Possession
by HawkofNavarre
Summary: She didn't belong to him...yet.
1. Out of the Loop

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters or plots. Do we really have to stick these here? This is FANFICTION; kinda self-explanatory. However, it would be nice if I could actually _draw_.

**This story was inspired by _MyAibou_****'s YGO Revival Series (Part I, chapter 3). I credit her with the scenes from this chapter.**

**Cover by _Zippi44_ at DeviantArt. Her work is absolutely gorgeous, so please check it out!**

**Rated T:** For suggestive themes, Natsu's idiocy, and sometimes not-so-innocent fluff, which may not be considered fluff. If you're not 14 or older, your clean minds may be corrupted. This story is also _full_ of guilty pleasures. You have been warned.

**Genres:** ROMANCE, humor, and a little drama and angst.

**Pairings:** NATSU x LUCY, very mild Gajeel x Levy, and whatever I decide to throw in there when I feel like it.

**Author's Note:** Chaptered story? Here it is, after thousands of years. Haha! I'm just going to thank all the people who reviewed my one-shot _Motion Sickness_. I love feedback, and it gave me endless joy! I'm writing this one for you guys! Also, just so you know, I'm not the quickest at updates, so don't expect them to be too fast. I'm usually pretty quick when I'm inspired though, so I'll do my best when I feel it coming on. Anyway, on with the first chapter-please do not be offended by any mean things Lucy says or thinks.

Any constructive criticism (besides spelling errors, unless they really bother you) and feedback are highly appreciated!

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_**Possession**_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 1 – _Out of the Loop_**

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She couldn't understand men. She would _never _understand men for as long as she lived, and the mage had landed on that conclusion after several weeks of relentless flirting. Lucy had thought she had maybe at least had a vague idea on how males thought. It was common knowledge that the hormonal meat bags did their thinking with a head that didn't sit upon their shoulders. She knew that cleavage could pretty much get her anything because of that weakness. She knew that while enchanted with beauty or sexiness, they were easily manipulated, and she knew that if she stuck out her lower lip, any man would be at her disposal.

At least, that's what she used to think she knew.

Lately, none of those things applied. It wasn't like she wanted to be a slut or anything. It was just that all those flirty things led to male interest, which led to a _boyfriend_, which she _wanted._ Lucy wasn't about to wait around and leave her feminine wiles to gather dust! They were there! She might as well use them!

She'd tried the low top with Gray—a risky move since Juvia was so obviously in love with the ice mage, but Lucy thought she'd give it a try after repeated ignorance towards the water magician's attempts at gaining his reciprocation. She had been wearing a tube top that day and had used the classic technique of clasping her hands together. This, of course, resulted in her arms pressing her chest together to make her breasts look even larger. This skill had _never_ let her down before.

…that time being the exception. Gray blinked like he hadn't even noticed and walked away. Part of her hadn't been surprised, knowing that he was completely dense and hardly part of the dating scene. The other part of her, the one that trusted the infamous "chest-press", was severely astonished that the move hadn't affected Gray even _a little._ And then she had been angry, because Lucy had taken a huge risk when she decided to put her plan into action, and afterwards Juvia would be trying to murder her like a mad woman until the half-naked man gave her some attention. Then again, it would have happened either way.

Her next scheme was the mini-skirt. Some guys liked the ass more than the chest. Yeah, she knew what those perverts wanted! This time, it was Elfman that she victimized—well, not _victimized_, just targeted—no—there wasn't a way to make it sound good! Anyhow, in her shortest ruffled mini-skirt, she "accidentally" dropped her whip and was "forced" to bend over (she made sure not to flash anyone, of course) and pick it up. A crash had sounded shortly following and the spirit mage had worn a smirk of certainty.

However, when she turned around, Elfman, completely unfazed and with a straight face, commented, "How clumsy! A man never drops his weapon!" before stalking off. She was so incredulous that she hadn't even been able to retort that she wasn't a man!

The only consolation was that a nearby Makarov had collided with a table at the sight of her bending over and was then on the floor twitching with a bloody nose. Too bad it wasn't much of a comfort. The thought of a man as old as their guild master ogling her behind was terrifyingly disturbing and it sent shivers up her arms.

Days after _that_ scarring incident, Lucy had been lonely and summoned Loki to ask if he would go on a date with her, strictly as friends. She had absolutely no intention of getting into a relationship with one of her spirits, and Loki had always been her good friend in tough situations.

_Instead_, she got, "I'm sorry, Lucy, but I could never do anything that could even remotely develop into something romantic with you."

She had been insanely offended. What the heck were those words supposed to mean? "So you mean even if you were still living on Earthland, you wouldn't even give me a _chance?_" she had demanded in fury. Loki had been a _playboy_, and even he regarded her as a terrible catch!

"No!" he'd spluttered desperately, a panicked look in his eyes. "That's not what I mean at all! I _can't_ like you!"

"Why? Am I such a pathetic master that it's impossible to like me?"

"'Course not! You're the greatest master I've ever had! It's just—I could never betray a friend!" Loki had replied in haste.

The blonde had given him a peculiar look. "Betray…a friend?"

His eyes had rounded beneath his glasses, quickly dismissing himself before she could force any details out of him. She knew that if she called him now, he'd only ignore it. There was something he didn't want to say to her.

Lucy was shot down and full of anger for men. She'd given up on why they wouldn't respond to her advances. Maybe she was just undesirable in general…? It was perfectly reasonable. She was sure she was at least a little good looking, but she was a pretty weak mage and a rather sad fighter. With just her whip, her probability of winning a one-on-one was low. She was reserved when it came to her creative side and she was rather selfish…

"Mira-san, am I a terrible catch?" she asked worriedly at the bar.

Her guild mate was leaning her elbows against the table, smiling brightly. "How can you think that about yourself, Lucy? You're a great person and any man would be lucky to have you," the shape-shifter told her comfortingly.

"So why isn't anyone interested in me?" the blonde lamented as she flattened her upper body onto the bar counter. "I've even used my sex appeal to try and draw some attention! There are tons of guys in this guild, and none of them are even remotely attracted to me!"

"Really? None? Not even one?" Mirajane spoke evasively, a twinkle in her eye.

Lucy straightened herself out as soon as she noticed the mischievous tone her friend was using. "Mira-san, you _know_ something!" the key-bearer accused her senior in disbelief, mostly because there was actually something to _know_.

"Ooh, there's something to know?" another voice pitched in. Lucy knew it as her close friend Levy's voice, a cheery bookworm who used the magic of words to cut down her opponents.

"Oh no, Levy. You already know it," the waitress replied as if the other female wasn't even there.

"Know _what?_" Lucy pressed urgently. There was something going on around here, and she was going to find out! Loki had been the first hint, but Mirajane and Levy were in on it too. She really needed to get in the loop.

"Ah, _that_!" Levy nodded to herself with a look of slow revelation. A suspicious smile crept up the blunette's face as she took a seat next to the celestial wizard. "I can't believe she doesn't know!"

"_Know what_?" she repeated, almost shaking her chair around now, pulling tightly on the sides of her stool as she bounced around impatiently. "Will you guys stop acting like I'm not here and _please_ just tell me what you're talking about?"

"My, my, perhaps it would be better coming from a male's perspective?" the transforming mage suggested airily.

"Good idea," Levy agreed instantaneously and turned to the room full of guild members. "Gray! Come here!"

Raising an eyebrow, an amazingly fully clothed Gray approached them. "Yeah, did you guys need something?"

"We just want to know," Levy told him hypothetically while Lucy eyed an envious figure that was partially concealed behind an adjacent wall, "what do you think of Lucy, you know, as a woman?"

The spirit mage froze in disbelief, gaping at her friend's actions. What in the world was she doing asking about Gray's opinion of her?

"'As a woman'?" he repeated almost incredulously as he tugged at his shirt, as though he wanted to remove it. "This isn't some kind of joke, is it?"

"Oh no, no. We just want to know what you think—including Lucy," Mira cut in helpfully.

At this point, Lucy wanted to summon Horologium and hide inside of him so that she could shrink into a corner and feel smaller. "I…I didn't say I wanted that…" she trailed off weakly in embarrassment, words falling on deaf ears. She wished to the celestial spirits that Juvia didn't come after her because of this.

Gray considered her for a moment, her face beet red as he did so, then suddenly turned back to the other two girls. "Definitely pretty," he began, nodding as if in confirmation to himself, "smart, and a good ally to have in battle. I think she's a nice girl."

The blonde didn't know whether he was actually telling the truth or just secretly trying to make her feel better about herself. If it was a latter, it was certainly working.

"Would you ask her out?" asked the solid-script mage.

Gray stepped back quickly and put his hands out in front of him like he was telling someone to stop. "Oh _**hell**__ no._"

"And why the _hell_ not?" Lucy snapped back, offended by this seemingly obvious and insulting answer.

"You're Natsu's girl," he replied easily, the two other mages nodding in agreement.

"His 'girl'? What's that supposed to mean?" She either wasn't quite sure as to what Gray was getting at or she just lacked the comprehension to decipher his bizarre answer.

"You're Natsu's girl. Everyone in the guild knows it except you two morons who are too slow to realize it yourselves," the icemaker explained casually.

Lucy didn't think about it; she just reacted. "I'm nobody's girl! I don't belong to anyone!" she spat furiously, waving her fist in the air. "Who's the person who started this…_thing_?"

"Nobody started it," the dark-haired magician told her, shrugging, "it's just like that. It just _is_."

"How is it 'just like that'?" she demanded in humiliation. How was she the only one who didn't know about this—especially when it _concerned_ her? And this _really_ concerned her!

Mira's eyes peered thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Well…it's not a rumour or anything. It's more like it's something that developed over time that everybody noticed. Now, it's just a regular thing."

"Kind of like how everyone knows that Erza will kill you if you're caught misbehaving," Gray added in explanation, his voice muffled beneath the shirt he was trying to take off.

"No way, I'm sure you've all got it wrong," the blonde replied in swift denial, because the only way she and Natsu would ever be some sort of couple was if she had gone insane and if he turned into…someone other than himself. Natsu would irrevocably not be the dating type. If he were ever to date a person though, it would be… "_Lisanna_ is Natsu's girl. You've all seen them together!"

They all stared at her with open mouths before bursting into laughter, causing Lucy to turn red for probably the fiftieth time that day. "What?" she protested loudly. The mage felt hopeless at this point. It was like she'd fallen into parallel universe where everybody thought that Natsu was interested in her.

"Did someone say my name?"

Lisanna bounded up happily, waving cheerfully. Her right to call Mirajane her sister was evident in her white hair and jovial demeanour.

"You—and Natsu—_together!_" Levy choked out between laughs and giggles that were causing her to double over.

Lucy looked in annoyance at her fellow bookworm as the animal mage looked in surprise. "Oh, I thought I'd sorted that out with you guys a while ago?"

The celestial mage didn't understand exactly how her eyes were staying in their sockets. This was simply way too much to take in one day. Lisanna had openly _admitted_ to having a crush on Natsu, and here were three people laughing so hard that they were falling over like the relationship wasn't even possible. Were they just mean? Or was she _that_ out of the loop?

"I know what you're thinking, but they're not being insensitive to my feelings," Lisanna assured her with a hand gesture. "After a week of being back at the guild, I understood that Natsu had chosen you and I took the time to move on. It was mostly just a childhood crush anyway."

Her jaw might have hit the floor had it the ability to unhinge that far. This was over a year ago? _Over a flippin' year__ ago?_ Somehow even Lisanna had seen what Lucy believed impossible, and only after a measly week!

"No, no, no! This isn't right at all! You _like_ Natsu—"

"I _liked_ Natsu."

"—and you two should definitely be together, even if I don't believe he's capable of that kind of love!"

"Don't worry, Lucy! I've been over it for quite a while now. There's nothing to be ashamed of if you want to be with him."

"Why won't anyone listen to me? Natsu does not have feelings for me!" she moaned into her hands as she slumped into her seat miserably.

"You're correct in thinking that," a masculine voice told her in support.

"Gajeel!" Of course, it was Levy who announced this.

Lucy could've easily gotten even more furious at the fact that this humiliating conversation was getting around the whole guild, but she was grateful to finally have someone on her side. The fact that it was Gajeel was a tad strange, but she'd take whatever she could get. Feeling slightly relieved, she drew herself up. "_Thank you_, Gajeel."

"Feelings are fleeting. A dragon slayer doesn't have some cheap, pathetic _feelings_. We give a piece of our soul to our mate, binding us together for eternity. _Feelings_ are too shallow to describe what we have inside," he snorted derisively. "He will not choose another. We find one, and we find only one that we can ever 'feel' for in this lifetime." The male's eyes fell upon Levy as he spoke, the blue-haired teen appearing to be lost in his words.

Lucy vaguely felt as though she'd been shot through the chest by her only ally. The female opened her mouth, then closed it, at a loss for words. Her thoughts jumbled together as she desperately tried to think of something to say, but her brain finally failed her and she simply let out a frustrated cry and her face took refuge against the table again.

Gajeel's voice stood out once more as he grabbed Levy's forearm, an action that was much gentler than it seemed, and began to lead her to the door. "Come on, shrimp! Mission!" He was doing a stellar job of ignoring the two murderous glares on his back that belonged to the partners of the girl he was dragging off.

Lucy closed her eyes in jealousy. Nobody was poking at Levy for being Gajeel's girl, which she obviously was—or more accurately, the only girl that Gajeel would ever "feel" for. She stood up with a newfound fury and placed a sharp look on all who were surrounding her.

"Listen up. Natsu and I will never be together. We're just friends, and I'm going to prove that to _all_ of you, so just watch!" she proclaimed confidently. Nobody laughed at her this time, but Mira gave her a knowing smile that shook her just a little.

"We'll watch," Mira agreed, her joyful expression not shifting in the least, "and see."

And for some reason, Lucy suddenly regretted her words.


	2. The Wonders of Relationships

**About the Story: **This is going to be an eventual romance, so nothing is going to come right away. Please keep this in mind, especially for the upcoming chapter 3.

**Author's Note:** Whew, it's finally up. I worked so hard to write this chapter so I hope it's up to standard! It was right in the middle of exams too! Anyhow, have you ever seen Natsu in an uncomfortable situation? I haven't, thus the trouble with writing the chapter. This is a take on how he views relationships. Poor simple-minded Natsu has no idea why Lucy's being so mean to him. If _you_'re confused as so why, please refer to chapter one.

Also, thank you for all the feedback! I didn't expect so much for the first chapter, but you guys time out of your day to review, so thank you so much!

As always, constructive criticism and feedback are highly appreciated.

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**Possession** by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 2 – _The Wonders of Relationships_**

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"No, go with Happy," Lucy muttered stubbornly. The dragon slayer stared at her in bewilderment as she played with the pen in her hand, wondering what he'd done wrong.

"I've already done three missions with Happy in the last week," he sulked at her refusal. Peeking over the blonde's shoulder, she turned her head ever so slightly as he stuck his face next to hers. She looked away from him. Natsu scrunched his face in annoyance and shuffled sideways, glancing at her over her other shoulder. However, the celestial mage simply turned her head once again and avoided his gaze. He moved around the table she was sitting at until he was across from her, crouched down, and peered over the flat surface at her. Lucy's nose was in the air and her eyes were firmly directed onto the ceiling.

He leaned in close, right up until he was centimetres away from her chin, his own eyes wide as he inspected her. Lucy's head lowered and their eyes finally connected for an extremely brief moment before she squeaked in surprise and fell backwards off her chair.

"_Natsu!_ I already said 'no', so quit bothering me!" the spirit mage shouted indignantly, standing up angrily with clenched fists, glaring this time.

"Why won't you do any missions with Happy and I?" the fiery-haired male demanded hotly. "We're supposed to be partners, so you should come too!"

The teenager crossed her arms, again looking elsewhere. What was with that anyway? It wasn't like she was going to die from looking directly at him.

"I'm...working on my novel," she insisted relentlessly.

Natsu glanced at the table. The pen she'd been fidgeting with was now lying next to the blue notebook she'd brought with her. The book was unopened, just like its counterpart. The fire user was quite certain that the notebook hadn't even been touched since he'd approached her. Lucy had appeared to be a lot more preoccupied with trying to ignore him, and he really had no idea why.

"Your book is closed," he pointed out lamely, but that evidence alone was enough to prove what he was saying.

"O-of course! How can I write when...you're being so nosy?" the mage girl shot back rather reluctantly, as though she was struggling to find words to throw back at him.

He scowled at her retort and decided to return to exactly what had been the subject from the start. "You usually write at home when it's night, but it's _day_ right now! We should go on a _mission_," Natsu emphasized, pointing at the mission board.

"That's fine! Just go without me!" she persisted.

"No," the dragon slayer denied sharply. "We're partners. That means you and I are supposed to be _together_."

Lucy suddenly looked very, _very_ red and she gave the distinct impression of an imminent explosion. She stalked up to him in a rage and poked him roughly in the chest. "Listen up here, hotshot," she hissed as Natsu felt fear building up in his body at her wrath. In terms of intimidation, Lucy could seriously give Erza a run for her money. "I don't care what you or _anyone else_ in this guild thinks, but I do _not _belong to you and I will personally see to it that you suffer horribly if you ever tell anyone otherwise! Now _leave me alone!_"

Terrified out of his wits, Natsu swiftly moved away from the raging female quite stiffly. Lucy was weird—and really, _really_ scary sometimes, but he could never recall her getting so angry with him before. What in Earthland had he said that had been so horrible? At least before she was just ignoring and avoiding him.

Still, he couldn't comprehend the reason for _any_ of her recent reactions. She never wanted him around anymore—at least, not for the last week—and it made him sad. He, Happy and Lucy were a team, and although he and his flying cat used to be the team, it just wasn't the same without the celestial wizard anymore. Natsu kind of found her oddness amusing, and her spirits were fun to have around.

However, Lucy was currently being pretty mean, so he'd have to put off missions for now. He wanted to get to the bottom of this! Sadly, hugging Erza seemed like a better idea than approaching Lucy at the moment.

He trudged over to the bar where Happy flitted over to sit with him. "So is Lucy coming with us?" the cat asked.

"No," Natsu sulked dreadfully, "and we're not going on any missions until Lucy will come too. I don't understand why she's being so stubborn."

The feline frowned, furrowing his brow in thought. "But she always goes on missions with us. How come she doesn't want to anymore?"

It was at that moment that Mirajane returned from her waitressing to behind the bar's counter. Natsu could feel Mira examining him, but he didn't care. He just felt confused and sad—so very confused and sad...

"Natsu...?" she began n that motherly way she could speak in. "You seem rather sad."

"Confused too," the dragon slayer confirmed with a grumpy, solemn nod.

"What about?" Mira asked, leaning her elbows on the counter to support her head.

He looked up hesitantly, realizing that Mira knew pretty much everything that was going on in the guild. It was entirely reasonable that she would know what was going on with Lucy. "Lucy won't go on missions with us and now I've made her mad. Do you know why she hates me so much lately?"

The devil mage looked at him in surprise. "Oh, Natsu, Lucy doesn't hate you. She's just having some...personal issues," she told him carefully.

Natsu's brow creased in further confusion. "What kind of issues?"

"The boy kind," was her response, and yet, all at once, Natsu understood.

It made all sorts of sense, and the dragon slayer didn't know why he hadn't thought of this before. Lucy _always_ shut down when it came to boys. He didn't comprehend anything beyond that, but he knew the whole "love" thing was important to her. If something didn't work out with a guy, Lucy wouldn't go on missions for a day or two. The only difference was that this time, it was lasting longer.

Darn it, Natsu had to fix this. He didn't want her to be sad about some stupid boy who didn't appreciate her. Perhaps she would feel better if he beat up the person who made her feel sad? It always made _him_ feel better after people trashed Fairy Tail's name in his presence. Scumbags were always going to be scumbags, and it would be an honour to destroy the one who hurt his best friend.

Quickly, the male stood from his seat and thanked his fellow member for the help. His destination never left his mind, leaving the guild in great speed while Happy followed behind. If there was one thing he didn't get, it was the concept of relationships. People were always _dating _and _going out_ with each other, only to end things after an extended period of time. Natsu didn't understand how people could feel love for more than one person—not the platonic kind, of course, but the romantic type. Igneel had taught him that dragons could only love one other, and while the fire mage was most certainly human, his magic had always caused him to feel more dragon than anything. Love that people were always talking about had never surfaced in his heart even while everyone around him had crushes or some sort of infatuation with another. Not him, though. Never him.

Honestly, it didn't really matter to him. That kind of thing was pretty much the last thing on the dragon slayer's mind, so he hardly fathomed as to why it was such a big deal to people. He supposed that, in a way, he could see it when he thought of Gajeel. That guy had found his mate and wanted to claim her as his own, yet Natsu didn't really care if he never found his. It didn't seem very significant to him.

The fiery-haired male briefly wondered how Wendy would feel about the whole thing. Though she was young now, she would be having a crazy time in the future. Female dragon slayers had it different. Men flocked to _her_ and she would take her pick from the batch on which she would fall for. Wendy would be able to choose while he was stuck pondering who his _heart_ had chosen. Girls were so darned lucky.

On the other hand, like he'd said, love hardly mattered. It was no big deal.

Still...it was important to Lucy and Natsu respected that. She was just one of those people who had to test out boys to see whether she liked them or not. If she did like him, she would test him some more before eventually deciding that she no longer enjoyed his presence, dumped him, and then went back to test different guys. Natsu regarded this process of finding a partner in marriage as a massive waste of time, but because Lucy found it to be a vital part of her life, he supported her in it.

However, though he supported her, he never once approved of a guy she'd chosen to test. The first one he'd met was some really, really feminine looking guy, yet woman kept staring at the dude and Natsu had no clue as to why. One girl he'd hear gasp, "Bee-shee!" in excitement, but he hadn't heard that word before in his life and was certain that it was some sort of foreign language. What in the world was a "bee-shee" anyway? Anyhow, there wasn't anything totally distinguishable about that guy besides the fact that he _really_ liked himself. He was always looking in the mirror unless he was looking at Lucy or other girls. And he made his surroundings sparkle in some sort of weird faded lighting. Girls swooned when he was around and Natsu was pretty disgusted by the whole thing.

A short while after the pretty boy was kicked to the curb, there was a dark-haired guy who wouldn't stop reading. That guy carried around a _huge_ messenger bag that was full of thick, 500-page books. His nose was always stuck in a novel and he hardly ever looked at the girl he was dating. When Natsu inquired as to why she wanted to be with this weirdo, she'd said that they had things in common. All he could think was "_WHAT?_" Certainly the pretty mage enjoyed reading, but she wasn't an obsessive word fiend. That man was seriously _introverted_ too, not even looking up after Natsu had acknowledged him. Lucy gave up on him after three days, which was quite obviously a good idea, and the fire-breather was relieved that the bookworm was finally gone.

There were a few more guys after that, but really only one more of notable interest. This one was very silent and stoic, acting cold and callous to everyone around. Natsu pretty much _hated_ this guy, but the thing was, Lucy actually stayed with him for longer than all the others. The dragon slayer didn't know what she saw in that man—she was together with that guy for almost three months! And he was such a jerk too!

…Although…when he thought Natsu wasn't looking, the fire-haired male noticed him doing something sweet. Occasionally he'd stroke Lucy's hand gently or make some sort of concealed, tender gesture. It'd crossed the Fairy Tail member's mind that _that_ might be the reason the celestial magician had stayed in a relationship with him in the first place. He never found out exactly why they had split up either, but he was certainly glad that the angry dude was gone. It had affected the amount of missions Lucy went on with Natsu.

Actually, it was sort of like now, with Lucy refusing to accompany him on missions—let alone _look_ at him. She was really trying her best to avoid him like the plague. Well, Natsu wasn't going to let her run anymore!

Hurriedly, the dragon slayer reached Lucy's front door and opened it with that key he had copied long ago. As it clicked open, Happy headed straight for the kitchen whilst Natsu continued on into his fellow guildie's bedroom where the sound of running water drifted in from the bathroom. Natsu heard the water click off and stared at the shut door in anticipation.

A minute later, it swung open and he was staring directly at a glistening, damp-haired Lucy clad only in a fuzzy, cotton towel. Her mouth was slightly ajar as her eyes connected with his with questionable emotion.

Natsu got his interrogation underway, unmoved by her state of undress. "Is there a guy I need to beat up for you?"

It was as if she hadn't even heard his question as she shrieked at the top of her lungs, the scarf-wearing boy cringing at the shrill noise. "_GET OUT OF MY ROOM!_" Lucy screamed in devastation, chucking a hairbrush at his head that he narrowly dodged.

It was somewhat unnerving how fast that object had flown past his face.

"_GET OUT!_" she shouted again, this time throwing a more dangerous lamp. "_STUPID LECHER!_"

In order to preserve his life, Natsu obliged instantly and raced for the kitchen where Happy was. He couldn't help but object to the names Lucy had just given him—well, perhaps not the first as, admittedly, he wasn't the wisest guy around—because he was _not_ a lecher. He didn't think about women's bodies like their master did!

Happy was sitting on the kitchen table, munching on a few sardines. His eyes fell on Natsu as the frightened male entered the room. "So did you get talking to Lucy yet?"

"No, she tried to kill me again," he replied shakily. "I think I'll wait here this time…"

Natsu wasn't sure why she was so mad this time either. How did seeing her in a towel make him a lecher? She normally covered only that amount of skin when she left her house anyway. He grew more confused ever time he thought about it.

However, his puzzled thoughts were interrupted when a red-faced Lucy arrived in the doorway, appearing no less furious than she'd been minutes earlier. At least now she was in a pair of gray sweatpants and a pink t-shirt.

"I've had _enough_ of you, Natsu! You think you can just barge into my house with no good reason and try to catch me naked?" she seethed through her teeth.

"I didn't have any other choice," Natsu defended timidly. "You keep avoiding me and you never even told more or Happy _why_. I had to ask Mira."

Lucy suddenly looked positively stiff as she bit her lip and gazed angrily in another direction, an action the dragon slayer was quite used to receiving now. "And what did she tell you?"

"Boy issues."

He watched as the spirit mage placed a palm on her face, shaking her head with a sigh. The fire-breather was taken aback when she began to smack her hand on her forehead a couple of time. Frozen in his place, Natsu stared at her in bewilderment. She was currently nodding to herself instead and he was just totally unsure of what she was doing. Lucy looked to him—directly _at him_—and smiled gently.

Uh…what…?

"Well, you know, Mira was right. I'm having some boy issues, but I shouldn't be taking it out on you. I'm sorry," she apologized softly, her mood now absolutely _the opposite_ of what it had been seconds ago.

Natsu didn't question this. He was going to take what he was getting. "Is there a guy being mean to you? Should I beat him up?"

She laughed, which frightened Natsu, unsure of whether he should keep his guard up now, before she walked over to the table and sat in a chair and stroked Happy on the head. "It's nothing like that. Mira and Levy just said some stuff that…" The blonde paused, searching for a word, "…scared me. I guess it affected me pretty badly, even if I don't think what they said is true at all."

"…Oh," was all he could manage as she treaded onto an uncomfortable topic for him. He appreciated an explanation, but he hadn't expected her to _open up_ to him.

Lucy continued. If she felt the anxiety he was radiating at all, she disregarded it. "Gajeel said that dragon slayers can only fall in love with one person. Is it true?" the key user asked almost casually, but there was a curiosity in her voice that indicated he wasn't going to get out of this very easily.

"Uh huh…"

She was blushing now. "Have you found her yet?"

The answer was obvious for him, but he couldn't seem to vocalize it as clear as it was in his mind. Natsu shifted in his spot, nearly regretting his choice to come here as his face grew hot in embarrassment (which it rarely did). "I…uhm…"

"Oh! Sorry!" she abruptly apologized for the second time as her hand rose in front of her moth. "Have you found _him_ yet?"

Happy choked on a fish bone while Natsu choked on his own saliva.

"N-" he coughed, wide-eyed. "No! _I DON'T LIKE GUYS!_"

"Well, you didn't answer, so I just assumed—"

"I'm _not_ gay!"

"Okay, okay! I believe you!"

A pregnant silence overtook the room and the sound of fish being nibbled on was the only thing that could be heard. Lucy was the one to break it.

"Is it alright if I try something?" she asked, getting to her feet. "I won't hurt you or anything."

It didn't sound as if Lucy had any malicious intent, so Natsu nodded, albeit skeptically. He still felt a little offended by her earlier statement. Had he ever given off that impression? "S-sure… What do I have to do?"

"Nothing, just don't move," she told him before turning to Happy. "Happy, could you close your eyes?"

"Okay," the cat agreed instantly. He'd been smart enough to stay out of their conversation thus far and knew that he wasn't part of it, but because of this request, Natsu knew whatever Lucy wanted to do was private.

The dragon slayer was nervous when Lucy moved forward, her eyes never leaving his. She stopped in front of him and placed her hand on this bare left shoulder, running her fingers down his arm until they touched his palm. The urge to move somewhere—anywhere—threatened to drive him insane as he struggled to obey her command, a tingling sensation running up through his arm when her skin touched his.

Her body drew closer still as the intensity of her gaze made him forget to breathe. He desperately tried to stay composed as her fingers slid into the crevasses between his own and grasped his hand lightly.

Agonizing seconds passed as Lucy studied him quietly. It took everything in him to keep his exterior indifferent while she did so, and when she, at long last, backed away, he was on the verge of screaming out from the physical strain he was placing on his body from resisting movement. Her hand remained under his as she stepped away, keeping them connected for as long as she possibly could.

His body felt like stone when she finally let go.

A small, weak laugh came from Lucy's mouth as she shook her head once more. "Sorry, I was being stupid. I just wanted to see something."

"Did you see it?" he asked her hoarsely, still practically quivering from her touch and unable to figure out what she was referring to.

"Mmhm," she responded, going over to Happy and patting his head to show he could open his eyes. "You two should head back to the guild and pick out a mission. We can head out tomorrow morning."

"Great," Natsu said, turning toward her front door. "See ya tomorrow then."

The fire mage left her house in silence, his flying companion hurrying after him.

"What happened?" Happy inquired worriedly. "You seem kinda out of it."

Natsu was asking himself that very question. There had never been a situation that had scared him more than today's. Even his fight with Gildartz hadn't left him this shaken to the core. No… Gildartz's magic wasn't even as close to as terrifying as the turmoil he'd been through only minutes before.

When Lucy had touched his hand, a shock had shot through him like electricity, He hadn't been focused on her anymore in that moment, but only Lucy in a _fantasy_ of pulling her into him and kissing her breathless. It was the hardest battle he'd ever fought, not to turn that fantasy into reality. He wasn't even sure how it happened. He and Lucy had been partners for so long, and never had he experienced anything like this.

Still, Natsu wasn't dense enough to just brush something like this off. He understood what it meant. He just didn't know how things had become this way.

"Natsu?"

Happy's voice pulled him from his stupor and the dragon slayer stopped poking at his own very confusing thoughts. He answered the question his best friend had asked honestly. "I…I think I found my mate."


	3. Into the Den

**Author's Note**: Seriously one of my busiest months ever. All I can say to you guys is thank you for all your support and patience! The next chapter shouldn't take as long. I'm really looking forward to writing chapter 5 (chapter 4 is done and will be updated when chapter 5 is completed). This chapter is connected to the special on Natsu's house, but I don't think you need to read it to understand the chapter. It's also pretty difficult to actually figure out what stuff is in Natsu's house, so I just made most of it my own.

**Don't take the ending as more than it actually is.**

**Warning: This chapter contains shameless feely-good content for guilty pleasure, because that's what I wrote it for. Indulge, friends.**

Constructive criticism and feedback is always appreciated. Enjoy.

* * *

_**Possession**_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 3 – _Into the Den_**

* * *

Lucy didn't like mistakes. She didn't like making them, and she didn't like seeing the people she cared about make them. They caused hurt, pain, and sometimes damage beyond repair, and though they were definitely a good plot device, they were often destructive in reality and she didn't support them.

_This _was a mistake. Lucy found herself being dragged up the pathway to Natsu's house—the house that she'd broken into a couple of weeks ago. At _that_ time, she had wanted to give the dragon slayer a taste of his own medicine. He was constantly breaking into her house and giving her trouble—not to mention the fact that he was always scaring her out of her skin _every single time,_ although she supposed she should be used to it by now. That still didn't give him any right to trespass on her property!

"Why in the world are you dragging me here?" she demanded, only resisting his grip a little. She was reminded of the little test she'd done on him a while ago. That time he hadn't been fazed by her holding his hand. His face had only been blank, and that had confirmed that she was right from the beginning. Everyone else was fooling themselves when they said she was "Natsu's girl", because after her experiment, it was abundantly clear that he had no interest in her whatsoever.

"I told you. I need your help with something," Natsu replied grumpily, Happy joyfully flitting overhead toward their cottage. His firm grip on her wrist didn't loosen as he continued down the path.

She realized that he was being weirdly gentle with her, even with the hold he had on her. It wasn't hurting her in the least, which was really strange with the way he was addressing her right now. He was grumpy and disgruntled and yet he was still treating her perfectly nicely—well, physically, at least. He still gave absolutely no regard to her objections.

Finally, Lucy gave in and let the fire-eater pull her the rest of the way to the house. The other mage quickly opened the door, shoved her inside, let Happy fly through, went in himself, closed the door behind him and locked it.

The blonde suddenly felt rather intimidated. "N-Natsu, what are you doing?"

His face was dead serious as he stepped closer to her. Lucy gulped unconsciously, backing up nervously. Natsu was _never_ like this, and it was seriously scaring her that he was acting more like Gajeel than anyone. It shook her more that his eyes were staring right into hers more intensely than they ever had.

"You…" he began roughly, edging nearer with each word, Lucy stepping back respectively. "…will…" She stumbled, nearly tripping on a floor board. Her heart jerked in fear even as she regained her balance. "…help…" The spirit mage felt her ankle connect with something, then fell backward onto what she believed was a table. Her eyes widened as she gripped her keys with one hand and her whip with the other. "…me…"

The pounding in her chest was different than it usually was. It was thrilling and terrifying at the same time, almost like it felt during a battle. In fighting, it was just adrenaline, but this…it was different. She kind of liked it for some reason.

He leaned over her, his hands against the flat of the table. His head lowered until his lips nearly touched her ear. Lucy could feel his hot breath brushing against her skin, sending a tingling sensation down her spine each time he exhaled. The confusion and fear within her mixed, forming an unbearable tension in her chest. She wanted to scream and let out everything that was pressing inside of her, but terror caught in her throat and nothing would come out. An enemy had never scared her so deeply. There was never a time that she couldn't summon her courage and do _nothing._

…But this was Natsu; this was cheerful, loud, and destructive Natsu. He was her closest friend in the world. Why—why was he doing this?

"Where is it?" he demanded finally, and everything that had built up inside froze at his voice.

"Where…" the celestial magician began bravely, managing to force something out of her throat this time. "Where is what?"

The dragon slayer straightened up and moved away, putting one hand on his face. This time, he just looked downright stressed. He started to pace back and forth in anxiety. "Gray said I should scare you like that, but I guess it's not gunna work," he seemed to say to both her and himself while Happy gladly stayed out of the whole situation. The flame-haired mage stopped and turned back to her, concern written all over his visage. "Lucy, we're nakama. I trust you, but I need to know where it is."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Lucy cried in distress, mind spinning. Had he said something about Gray…? Out of the loop; the feeling was extremely familiar. "Natsu—what is going on?"

She didn't think he'd heard her when his head invaded her personal space again. The fire mage gave her a dark look. "I'm sorry, but I guess I don't have any other choice."

A second later, hands were at her torso stimulating her nerves. The blonde began to giggle as Natsu attacked her mid-section vigorously. She burst full-out into laughter soon after, unable to contain the tingling sensation that was working its way through her body.

"Where did you put it?" she heard him ask, though everything seemed hazy through her muddled mind.

As such, she did not answer, despite the fact that she had no idea what he was asking about anyway. Lucy was laughing so hard that tears were beginning to form in her eyes. She found herself hitting the floor as she thrashed madly, trying to stop the onslaught of tickling, but her current position proved that she was failing miserably. The spirit mage couldn't take anymore of the abuse.

Still, the laughter came out while Natsu slowly killed her. Her hand grasped at her side desperately, finally catching hold of the handle of her whip. She pulled her left hand over her tummy and lashed at Natsu with the other. The male yelped, apparently more in shock than anything else and retreated as she threw the end of her weapon at him once again.

"What the hell is your problem?" she screamed in fury, still lashing at him with her right arm as the other rubbed her ill-treated abdomen. She was relatively breathless at the moment, but she wasn't about to give him the upper-hand again.

"Ack!" Natsu moved back in fright. "Stop! You have my box!"

Hearing this, Lucy stopped, puzzled. "Am I always out of the loop? What box? Why am I supposed to have this box?"

"You broke into my house!"

"You're _always_ breaking into mine!"

"Yeah, but you moved my stuff!"

"I _cleaned_ this pigsty! You should be thanking me!"

The dragon slyer put his face in his hands. "I guess it's hopeless… Erza's strategy didn't even work."

"There's still Cana's," Happy suggested from his place on the sofa.

"Cana's doesn't make any sense," Natsu replied sulkily.

The whole subject changed completely when she heard these things. The Fairy Tail girl gaped in disbelief, remembering that Gray's name had been mentioned just a few moments ago. "Wait, our guild mates told you to do this stuff?" she asked, knowing what the answer was going to be.

"Uh huh. I asked Levy what I should do to get my box back from you, but then everyone else started giving me strategies too," he answered absently, looking like he was thinking of something else. Then he cringed, "Cana told me to put my tongue in your mouth. I still don't understand how that's supposed to help me though."

Lucy became positively red-faced as she seethed silently. It was bad enough being called "Natsu's girl" by them, but their meddling in her relationship with him was another thing. They were going to _get it_ when she got back—especially Cana. Ooh, Cana was going to get very special treatment. Very, very special treatment.

"Elfman told me to 'take you' like a real man, whatever that means."

Ah, and apparently Mira's younger brother would be joining the alcoholic. It would be great fun for everyone.

Unfortunately, that would have to wait until she actually figured out exactly what was going on here. She took a deep breath to gather herself before continuing her investigation.

"So this box, it was in here before I cleaned?" Lucy inquired more calmly.

He nodded solemnly. "I knew exactly where it was too; right between the red cup and the right shoe," the dragon slayer murmured sorrowfully.

She just stared. "…"

"Well, it's not there _anymore_."

"Yeah…" the busty blonde drawled, shooting him the same look he would always give her when she did or said something that qualified as "weird" to him. "Look, since I moved your box somewhere, I'll help you find it okay?"

Natsu suddenly looked rather nervous, exchanging looks with Happy whose expression had finally changed to be similar to his friend's. "Alright."

She neatly retracted her whip and reattached it to her skirt. "What does the box look like? Maybe I'll remember what I did with it," she told him, trying to remember exactly how the pile of crap in his house had looked.

"It's small…black," he responded in concentration. "It flips open, and it's…velvet? I think that's what the guy called it."

The celestial mage couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Natsu, did you buy a _ring_ for a _girl_?" she question him breathlessly.

He looked away shyly, but the blush staining his cheeks told her everything she needed to know. Natsu had bought a ring for Lisanna, and he was going to ask her to marry him! That sly boy had lied to her when she'd asked him if he found his love! Oh well. She'd let it slide. The thought of Natsu being a husband was already _really_ weird, but she knew that those two had quite a long history, and them getting married actually made perfect sense.

What made this difficult was that Lucy had absolutely no recollection of ever seeing a black, velvet box. Had she seen it while she was cleaning, there was no way she would've just ignored it, especially considering its uncanny appearance. She guessed they would have to do it the old-fashioned way.

"Okay, I don't ever remember seeing the box, so we'll have to search the house," Lucy concluded confidently, "but first things first; we've gotta get a few things straight!" She pointed a rude finger at her partner, her face adorned with a stern look. "Tell me, how long have you had that ring?"

"About a month," he admitted in embarrassment, scratching the back of his head.

He'd bought that ring a month ago? Wow, Natsu had been planning his proposal for a while then. It was clear now that her loyal companion was going to need a little push in order to get him into action.

"Right, then you are going to promise me that once we find that ring, you're going to give it to the girl it's meant for right away. No delays, got it?" the whip-user commanded strictly.

"But—" Natsu protested.

"No 'but's. You want me to help you find that ring?"

The fire-eater sighed in defeat as he crossed his arms, once again pouting. "Fine, guess I don't have a choice."

She smiled mischievously, taking her finger out of his face and readying herself to get down to business. "Good!" she celebrated as she put her hands together like an eager child. "Then, Happy, you look through those drawers and don't forget _anything_. Check twice, if you need to. Natsu, you take that shelf and the sofas—don't you _dare_ start tossing things around again! You put everything back where you found it because I'm not cleaning this place up again!"

"Yes, ma'am!" they saluted her and scurried off to do their assigned jobs. Lucy watched for a moment in amusement while they very _carefully_ sifted through objects, definitely moving visibly slower than usual.

After laughing quietly to herself, the blonde moved to her own spot around his hammock and a dresser with a few drawers. Opening the top one, a question hit her. "Hey, Natsu, how'd you know it was me who broke into your house?"

His answer came in a simple tone, "What kind of person breaks into a house and _cleans_?"

He made a good point, but she could still hear the echo of the answer to the rhetorical he hadn't spoken: "Only a weirdo does." Smirking, she continued rummaging through the exceptionally neat drawer for some kind of small box. Shortly after, she moved to the next one only to receive similar results.

Sighing, Lucy knew that the box wasn't just going to magically appear and so moved on to the bed, a place where it was unlikely to be. Nevertheless, she needed to search every place possible. This had to be done in order to help Natsu achieve happiness.

An hour later, everything had been thoroughly explored and no box had turned up _anywhere_. Lucy groaned and threw her back onto the fiery-headed boy's bed in frustration, the other two in the room lying on the floor in equal frustration. It made no sense at all! It _had_ to be in the small house—assuming the box had really been…between the red cup and the right shoe as Natsu had recalled. She knew the cup had been put in the cupboard with others of its kind and the shoe paired with its counterpart and placed nicely in the drawers Happy had checked. She'd seen both things and put them in their proper place. She'd only thrown out food wrappers and old papers that were unnecessary—the dragon slayer was at least good at keeping mould outside the confines of his home.

"I don't get it! It's got to be in here somewhere!" Lucy whined with good reason. After all, her head was meant to be reliable and not fail her like this.

"Are you sure you didn't throw it away?" Natsu asked suspiciously, eyes narrowing in her direction.

"Yeah, I'm absolutely certain," she retorted defiantly. "I _know_ I didn't throw it away. I looked at everything I _did_, and I definitely would've noticed a box like that if I had seen it."

"Are you sure you didn't eat it?" asked Happy randomly.

Lucy sputtered at the question and shot up in one swift motion, the hammock rocking softly. "What the—please tell me you're kidding!"

The indifferent smile never left the cat's face, convincing the teenage female that being friends with these two was detrimental to her health. She was never going to win whatever battle this was, and being the only sane one between the three of them really didn't help her much.

"So we've looked everywhere and we still can't find it," Natsu muttered mournfully.

"No, no, we can't have looked everywhere; we're missing something. This box _is_ in here somewhere! I just know it!" she denied in determination. "When things like this happen, it means it's in a stupid place that none of us have thought to look in. It's got to be somewhere obvious that we just overlooked, somewhere between the cracks!"

"Between…the cracks…" the dragon slayer repeated to himself in consideration before his eyes connected with the dark space next to the stove—the gap between the stove and the fireplace. The space was small, but big enough to hold a ring box in a certain position. It was dark, obvious, and staring at them right in the face.

It was the one place they hadn't searched.

Natsu stood up and pulled the stove out a little. He reached down, and sure enough, there was the tiny, black box in all its velvety glory. It seemed like time moved in slow motion when he opened the top of the little thing and a beautiful, gleaming sapphire shone through. It was small, just a little larger than the width of the silver band it was attached to.

He turned to Lucy, holding out the box and offered two words: "Happy anniversary."

She stood there and blinked once. Twice. Three times. For a second, her mouth opened in speechlessness before she finally found her words. "What are you talking about, Natsu? What anniversary?"

The boy looked away in annoyance as he outstretched the hand with the box. "Next month it'll be three years since we first met. It's early, but you made me promise I'd give the ring right after it was found, so here it is."

"But…it's such a beautiful gift, and it definitely didn't come cheap. Why in the world would you buy me something like this?" she asked in confusion.

The red returned to his cheeks. "I'm glad I met you. I just wanted to make sure you knew that. I saw the ring through a store window 22 missions back and I know girls like jewellery, right? Besides, I thought the gem would go nice with your hair," he explained reasonably, cutely trying to mask his embarrassment.

Lucy, however, just felt overwhelmed by the flood of feelings that rushed over her. Firstly, she had been completely wrong about Natsu's ring on all accounts. Secondly, the boy she'd judged to be completely oblivious to everything had been thinking about a gift for her two months prior to the two year anniversary of their meeting. Thirdly, his confession to her was making her feel so warm and fuzzy that she just wanted to explode. She was so full of happy feelings and had no outlet for them.

Her face cracked into a weak smile as she threw her arms around him and pressed her lips full onto his. For a few seconds, Lucy was kissing Natsu, and he was kissing her back. It was a fleeting moment of emotional weakness on her part, doing something she would've done to any guy if he did something this sweet for her, but she gathered herself and pulled away, remembering that this was her best friend. Instead, she settled into a hug as her arms squeezed his torso. If Happy thought anything of this incident, he didn't say a thing, fortunately for her.

"Natsu…" she started, a wider smile forming on her lips as she attempted to figure out what to say next. There was no possible way to describe how his incredible thoughtfulness was affecting her. "Thank you so much. I'll treasure it."

"You're not even wearing it yet, weirdo," Natsu pointed out, trying to seem macho even as the fire in his cheeks grew brighter.

"Yeah," she laughed as she took in the moment, so deliriously filled with euphoria that she could die. "I am a weirdo."


	4. Stupiderest

**Author's Note:** Yeah, you're not the only one who's saying "Finally!". I am too. I had a ton of trouble with this chapter, but development is necessary. Not everything is going to happen at once in this story! That being said, this one wasn't meant to make you all feely-good inside, so sorry for any disappointment. You'll get those chapters eventually.

If you're ever wondering how much longer it'll be before I update, I have a writing status on my profile page that I update regularly. Of course, if you want to avoid torturing yourself with how much longer it'll take for the next chapter to come out, I suggest you not check it. Anyway, a big thanks to all the readers and reviewers. I hope this chapter makes your day a little brighter! If it doesn't, feel free to reread chapter 3 to happy yourself up.

Constructive criticism and feedback are indefinitely appreciated, like always.

* * *

_**Possession **_by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 4 – _Stupiderest_**

* * *

Lucy had never really been the greatest cook, but if someone was giving her directions, she could make a tasty meal. Thus, with Mira in charge in the huge Fairy Tail kitchen, she was able to carry out the task she was given without much difficulty. In fact, she was quite enjoying the jobs Mirajane was giving her. The celestial spirit mage really liked the idea of a winter feast that Makarov had decided their guild would hold during the beginning of the cold season. Everyone was chipping in to make the event spectacular, and it was one of the reasons she really loved her guild. To her, this was going to be like a big family dinner that everyone could have fun at.

She hummed cheerfully as she danced around the other members in the kitchen with a tray in her hands on her way to the oven. Handling the desserts was a fulfilling job, knowing that her _crème brulée _would be part of the last course tonight although it was a rather small contribution compared to her summon's. Virgo would be better at any feminine task than Lucy would ever be. She was single-handedly assembling nearly 300 dishes with absolutely no assistance. Lucy made a mental note to get her spirit to make her dinner every once in a while.

On the other hand, the blonde was perfectly content with just doing the little things. She placed her tray into the oven and switched the timer to thirty minutes, wondering if most of the men outside (plus Erza and Cana) were actually getting things done. Their job was to simply set up the tables and to decorate, but knowing her guild mates, such easy tasks could quickly turn into disasters. However, if Erza were out there, there was a chance that things were going well.

She glanced down at her right hand where the ring Natsu had given her sat and her mind turned to him. There was something…different about him lately, though she wasn't sure what. He certainly acted the same the majority of the time, but there were times that he was quieter, gentler with her; times that the vibes she got from him were completely odd.

On their last mission, Lucy had gotten a little more scraped up than usual, their job being to find a watch their client had lost in the forest. Naturally, Natsu had suggested just burning everything down (though she really hoped he had just been joking) and searching the ground for something shiny, but the celestial mage had only rolled her eyes and began the search herself. Her mistake was blindly stepping into a nice thorn bush that had done a perfect job of tearing her skin in multiple places, and damn, had it stung.

She had Loke carry her back to where they'd entered. Happy was already waiting there with the missing object in hand, somehow finding it in a tree adjacent to the window of a cabin… She hadn't had time to question the actions of their shifty client when Natsu arrived at their meeting place as well. He had stared at her leg, then at her, then at Loke, who offered some sort of _look_ to Natsu before vanishing, then back at her again.

Lucy would _never _forget the look he gave her that day. There was concern there, yes, like any good friend would have felt, but he also seemed rather…annoyed. It was a _huge_ surprise to see him react like that. Any other time, she was certain that he would have maybe snickered at her clumsiness and then helped fix her up. Instead, as he cleaned her leg, he simply said, "You should be more careful, Lucy."

She appreciated his assistance, but to this moment, the blonde couldn't figure out what it meant. Sometimes she could see vividly how Natsu ran deeper than he seemed, though he was amazing at covering it up. That was one of those times. Still, he didn't act like that around her until _now_—like he was ashamed that she'd gotten injured so easily. Really now, _he_ should be giving that advice to himself! Where did that dragon slayer get off telling her to be more careful when he was constantly rushing headlong into things?

Yes, it infuriated her to no end, but Lucy knew she wasn't capable of staying angry at her partner for very long. He was incredibly sweet, contrary to popular belief, despite his extremely destructive behaviour, and his naïveté was quite adorable in a way. There was no way she could hold a grudge against someone so innocent.

With that in mind, the mage girl couldn't just let Natsu get away with that horribly hypocritical comment either. She had to make it clear to him that she would not take that kind of ridiculous statement from him, especially because of that nearly indifferent glance he had given her that made her actually feel _shame_ over an accident—_another_ thing he was exceedingly skilled at causing himself.

Lucy glanced at the clock. Her dessert should be finished by now…

As if on cue, the timer beeped enthusiastically, signalling the completion of her food. Slipping on a pair of mitts, she opened the oven and pulled out her large tray, a pleasantly sweet smell drifting from each little cup upon the tray. Her job was done now, as were most of the other jobs in the kitchen. Mostly everyone was playing around with garnishes or cleaning up now, so the celestial spirit mage put her cups down to cool a bit and began to tidy up the station she'd been working at.

Her cleaning was rudely interrupted by Levy, of course, who always got excited about absolutely everything to do with her love life if there was something to know.

"Oh my gosh, what is _that_?"

Lucy sighed tiredly as she waited to hear exactly what her friend was making a huge deal about this time. Frankly, it appeared to her that there was nothing visible on her character worth making _any_ kind of deal about. She'd been very careful after that huge discussion about her being "Natsu's girl". She didn't want any sort of speculation about her and him anymore.

Levy launched herself at Lucy's hand. "_Who gave it to you?_"

The victim flushed darkly. "Gave what?" she shot back innocently, even as the blue-haired bookworm grabbed hold of her right hand. This was not going to turn out well. Lucy could feel it in her veins.

"Don't play dumb, you! You know full well that I'm talking about that gorgeous ring you have on your finger," Levy retorted excitedly. She was staring at the beautiful gem as she thumbed the platinum band. "So who gave it to you?"

Lucy wasn't quite ready to give in just yet. "I bought it myself. I saw it on a mission and I couldn't resist, so I splurged."

The other female finally backed up a little with a scowl. "Do you really think you can lie to me? You don't _wear_ rings. _Never_. Bracelets, sure, and necklaces, yes, but not rings. You certainly wouldn't _buy_ one for yourself, so someone had to have bought it for you," the solid-script magician concluded crossly, as if challenging Lucy to attempt to lie to her again.

Damn, Levy just knew her too well.

"_Fine_, you're right. Someone gave it to me," the blonde conceded, holding her hand to her chest now. She felt oddly possessive over the object and didn't want anybody else touching it again.

"I know _that_, but _who_?"

She didn't realize how stupid she was until her mouth was open and the truth was out. "Natsu."

Levy's mouth dropped open in disbelief, but her shock quickly changed to delight, grinning widely. "Oh my gosh! He finally made a move on you!" she exclaimed in utter glee.

"He did _not_ make a move on me," the spirit mage huffed in annoyance. "You know, I'm getting really sick of everyone in the guild doting on Natsu and I! We're a team, not a couple, so you'd better start remembering that!"

"Maybe to you, but you two can be _anything_ in _my_ mind," the blue-haired female countered cheekily, starry-eyed. "I'm a reader, Lucy, and so are you. You should know we have our fantasy worlds."

"Yeah, well, _keep_ it that way," Lucy retorted as she stormed out of the kitchen, not bothering to finish cleaning up her station. If she was going to get interrogated, the woman could just finish Lucy's work. She'd rather feel bad about not doing her part than keep getting pestered. This was an unusual occurrence, seeing as Levy was being much less…tactful than she was on a regular basis. Levy was one of her best friends, but that didn't mean she couldn't irritate the celestial mage out of her mind—something she was exceptionally good at when she wanted to be.

Lucy made herself discreet in one of the long hallways, careful not to alert anyone who was setting up to her presence. The ring… She couldn't help stealing a look at her finger again, that warm feeling creeping through her once more. The blonde clasped her hands together behind her back as she leaned against the wall with a sigh, vaguely making out some orders being shouted by Erza.

On some level, she knew that something like this would happen today. She was wearing a ring (which, as Levy had so eagerly pointed out, she never wore) on a day that the whole guild would be together. Of _course_ this was going to happen. But…despite that, she was still just a girl who wanted to show off something pretty a boy had given her. Admittedly, the mindset was entirely too immature for the person she viewed herself as, and yet even she couldn't resist showing off trinkets from a male.

On top of that, Natsu wasn't even her boyfriend or the guy she liked, and still Lucy had given in to that desire. That, honestly, wasn't the only reason she had put the ring on her finger this morning though. Contrary to all the annoyance she had been subjected to, she was just so _happy_. Truthfully, she _wanted_ people to know that Natsu had given her the ring so that she could tell everyone how happy she was. She wanted to spread her joy because she was simply bursting with it. Meanwhile, the blonde already knew the path that little band was going to reopen for her, and she _had_ known it when she slid it on her finger that morning. Still, a girl could hope if she managed to shove those kinds of thoughts to the back of her mind. Wishful thinking was an easy thing to believe in.

It was frustrating, to say the least, but if she was going to prove Mirajane wrong about Natsu, she couldn't afford to enthuse the transforming mage any further after today. Levy probably spread the word to her already, but Mira was respectful enough to never mention their disagreement over Natsu's feelings unless Lucy brought it up herself. She still thought that Mira and everyone else were absolutely wrong. If she really _was _Natsu's girl, she would know. She wasn't stupid.

"How long are ya going to stand there?"

Lucy almost screamed when the voice came out of nowhere, but she quickly peered below her to see Happy smiling up at her. Really, her partners got the best of her just too often. She really had to rehash her attentiveness.

"Happy, what are you doing here?" the stellar spirit mage asked as she crouched down to speak with him more easily.

"I was going to get table cloths from the kitchen when I ran into you just standing there," the cat elaborated. "Shouldn't you be helping? Everyone else is working hard."

"Hey, I did my part!" she protested hastily.

"I'm sure you did!" Happy agreed jovially, leaving Lucy uncertain of if he was making fun of her or being truthful.

The celestial mage ran her palm down her face in exasperation before taking a deep breath to channel her frustration elsewhere. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, are you eating with Charle tonight? It seems like the perfect time for you to try to win some points with her."

"It's no use. She always shoots me down," the Fairy Tail feline sighed in defeat, his entire demeanour changing in a matter of seconds. Lucy honestly felt for the guy when it came to Charle. He liked her so much, but she never let him get closer to her, even when she obviously liked him too.

Yup, sometimes girls just couldn't see…

"Don't give up, Happy," she encouraged him as she pet his head gently. "You're great. Charle's going to see that soon."

He nodded, his visage somewhat cheery again. "Thanks, Lucy. I'd better go get those cloths now," Happy replied dutifully. His wings appeared and he began to fly towards the kitchen, calling back, "Oh, and don't worry! I won't tell anyone that you're hiding here so you don't have to help!"

Lucy had to try extremely hard not to start banging her head on the wall.

"Oi, Lucy, did you see Happy? I think he came this way," the dragon slayer said, appearing in the hall where the cat had stood previously.

"He just went to the kitchen," she responded plainly, for some reason feeling slightly self-conscious for wearing the piece of jewellery he'd given her in front of him. Maybe he would take it the wrong way…? Lucy could feel the heat rising to her face, but Natsu didn't seem to notice as he glanced around.

His eyes landed on her. "Shouldn't you be helping?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"I _did_."

He looked at her doubtfully and she glared back fiercely.

"Okay, whatever you say," the fire mage said, unconvinced. "This is a weird place to hide, you know."

Lucy groaned audibly. She couldn't _win_ with these people. Seriously. "_Natsu_, is there anything else you want? Happy's not here anymore."

He seemed to genuinely contemplate this question as he gave her a once over, eyes stopping when he spotted the ring he'd given her on her finger. Natsu moved forward curiously. "Hey, you're wear—"

Instinctively, the whip-user quickly drew back and her elbow collided with the wall, her funny bone specifically. Lucy bit back a curse as her hand flew to the place on her arm that had been injured, crouching into a ball. Natsu was at her side an instant later looking worried.

"What was that for? Are you okay?" he asked, lowering himself onto his butt. Tenderly, he reached for her hand and removed it from her elbow, replacing it with his own. She felt his hand heat up as a warm sensation slowly dulled the pain in her arm.

Lucy stared at him while he concentrated on the area he was healing. Was Natsu always like this? He was not a quiet and gentle person in the slightest, yet here he was playing nurse for her a second time. There were not moments of peace with this person—or at least, there weren't supposed to be. He would never make such a huge fuss over a tiny injury like this one either. He'd just let her shake it off.

No, she knew she was right. Something had changed in him recently and she couldn't figure out what. The person she knew was always loud and excited, but this man was more mature. Of course, Natsu had always been mature in his own way. He knew when it was appropriate to act like a moron and when to act like a friend.

So…why was this so different?

"Is that better?" the dragon slayer inquired softly as he released her arm.

Lucy nodded dumbly, unsure of what to say to him. How could someone possibly be so different and so the same at one time? What in the world had happened to him that had changed him so drastically?

"Why are you different?" the blonde suddenly blurted out as she looked at him quizzically.

He gave her an odd look, as if she were crazy. "What are you talking about?"

"You used to be annoying—and loud—I mean, you still_ are_ those things, but then you're not! I don't get it!" Lucy rambled in distress, falling back into a sit as well. She raised her hands and rubbed her temples warily, closing her eyes. "Last time—on our mission—you made me feel pathetic. I made a mistake and you looked down on me for it—and now, today, you be all…_nice_ to me! I'm so confused—you're making me crazy!"

A short silence passed between them before Natsu spoke tersely. "You're kinda weird."

She gaped. She'd spilled her guts to him for a response like _that?_ Oh, _heck no._ The celestial spirit user rose to her feet indignantly, anger bubbling within. "You _ass!_ I am _not_ weird. _You're_ the one who eats fire, dragon breath!"

"Hey, calm down! Tha-that's not what I meant!" Natsu protested as he stood as well.

"Oh yeah? Then what _did_ you mean?" she demanded hotly.

"I meant that you're weird for thinking I'd look down on you. I was just…disappointed that you could treat yourself so carelessly. Do you think I like seeing you hurt?" he retorted almost irritably, like she should never have thought such a thing.

His response triggered her own anger. "Don't be such a hypocrite! You're _always_ hurting yourself because you're being stupid!" the Fairy Tail female countered stiffly.

"That's different," he raged back, "I don't go walking into thorn bushes."

"Oh, so now _I'm_ the stupid one."

"Yeah!"

"At least _I_ don't go walking into battles I know I can't win!"

"I _can_ win those battles!"

"_Ha_, could've fooled me! You go into those battles only to come back half dead! Do you think _I_ like seeing _you_ hurt? No, never. So don't look at me like that when I do something stupid, because you'll always be stupider than me!"

Lucy panted heavily as she turned at the end of her tirade and began to stomp away for the second time that day. She didn't even know where it was all coming from, the words that came from her mouth being a surprise even to herself. She was always torn up and completely terrified when Natsu turned up in such devastating conditions, but she hadn't known that seeing him all those times had built up such massive emotion in her.

How did they even get onto this topic? She couldn't remember anymore. Her mind was clouded by the flood of resentment that had just emerged.

She had been so happy only an hour ago, Lucy recalled as she felt the band around her finger. Now, though, she was just angry and indignant. Logically, it didn't feel wrong when she tore the ring off her finger and tossed it behind her as she continued back into the kitchen, but emotionally, she felt her heart fall stories when she discarded the item. It was just…she couldn't look at it or feel it without remembering the disgusting amount of contentment she'd been floating amongst earlier. And she couldn't take it.

A hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her back as she whirled around to meet eyes with her assailant. "Wait," he hissed more calmly, though it was obvious that he was still miffed by their argument. "You _are_ smarter than me. I know that. That's why you're not supposed to get hurt doing stupid things."

"I'm human, Natsu. I'm going to make mistakes—same as you," Lucy ground out, keeping her voice low. "But you don't get it. I'm the one who's weak. I'm the one who has to watch you get hurt all the time. I'm the one who—"

In one swift motion, he pulled her into his arms as she silently raged on the verge of tears. She was always worried about him when he went into battle with reckless abandon, hating that he would destroy his body so much. She hated it even more that he would have the audacity to get angry at _her_ for getting hurt.

"I'm sorry," Natsu mumbled into her hair as his hand went slowly up and down her back consolingly. "I…I didn't know… You're—you're not weak… and—"

"You're an idiot," she murmured back, cutting him off. How in Earthland had the day turned out like this? She felt emotionally drained. Levy, the argument, and puzzles of emotion were enough to deal with in one day. She didn't want anymore.

Of course, where she was right now was strangely comfortable, despite the fact that the situation had been born from frustration and yelling. Natsu's arms felt really good…

"…Sorry, I'll try to be less stupid, but no promises," he grunted as she broke her train of thought.

"I would figure. Don't make promises you can't keep," the spirit mage half-laughed, letting the anger inside of her melt away. The warmth she was feeling overtook any negative emotion in her body as she melted in his embrace.

"You…dropped this," the dragon slayer commented awkwardly as he let her go, leaving Lucy feeling significantly colder. Indeed, the atmosphere had developed into something rather tense…

Quickly, he held out the piece of jewellery she had so spitefully thrown away earlier in offering. "Do you still…?" Natsu trailed off anxiously, eyes finding the ground.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do," she answered instantly, feeling loads better though it didn't make the air surrounding them any thinner. The blonde took the ring from his hand and slid it back on her finger, making a mental decision to ignore anyone who bothered her about it. "Thanks… We should…go finish… Setting up! We were…setting up!"

"Yeah… I'll…see you later," he replied, looking entirely uncomfortable, probably for the same reasons as her. As he bolted away, Lucy was finally reminded of how the whole thing started in the first place.

She sighed again as she headed back to the kitchen slowly, attempting to organize her thoughts. In the end, she hadn't gotten any of the answers she was looking for and had an argument that led to the most emotionally exhausting confrontation she'd ever had. Lucy decided she needed to put her curiousness aside for the night and just have fun. This was only one night.

To figure out Natsu…for that, she had plenty of time.


	5. Blizzard

**Author's Note: **HI. It's been awhile, but I've been very busy with school and everything. Life. Yup, you know. Anyhow, I guarantee a faster update next time! Thanks to everyone for being so patient with me. I'm grateful for all the reviews!

**Natsu OOC? **I'm actually going to have to disagree with those of you who feel this way. I've been developing his character and this chapter is a pretty good explanation as to _why_ he's acting differently. If it's anything other than that, then it has to do with the way we perceive his character from the manga. We're all going to see him differently and I apologize if he just doesn't seem right to you. He seems right to me.

Of course, constructive criticism and feedback are immensely appreciated. I apologize for my pathetic editing job for this one.

Please enjoy!

* * *

_**Possession **_by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 5 – _Blizzard_**

* * *

There was a blizzard raging outside. The wind whipped harshly against the glass in his windows as he tried to sleep, but his heightened sense of hearing wasn't a blessing at this point in time due to this. It didn't help that he wasn't tired either. All he could do was toss and turn, which he did, and close his eyes, which he got sick of.

Why he couldn't sleep was a mystery that he couldn't fathom. It could be that he was lonely because Happy had decided to walk Wendy and Charle home earlier and was definitely stuck there now, but it was doubtful that that was the reason. He and Happy were like family, but Natsu could go a day without seeing him. Besides, Charle was finally warming up to the male cat after the night of the Winter Festival. The dragon slayer was happy for him.

His restless mind caused him to shift positions again, staring at the ceiling in frustration as lay in his hammock. He hadn't seen Lucy today.

Natsu inwardly grimaced at his thoughts; he was wishing that he was at her house, cozy in her bed beside her. He actually had to admit that he liked being in her house more than his own. There was just a comfortable feeling there.

That…wasn't what was bothering him though. It was his attraction to her that made him feel this insecurity. He had never, _ever_ felt so completely hopeless before. In battles, even if he was way out-powered and had already lost, at least there was the consolation that he had fought back his hardest. This attraction wasn't something he could fight. If Lucy was the one who had unlocked these feelings, then she was the only one to and _would_ _be_ the only one to. _Ever._

Her intimate touch that day had triggered something inside of him. He could never look at her again as "just a friend." She was the _only one_ and his natural instincts told him that he need to protect her, even if she didn't want it, and make her his. Her injuries were taking a toll on his sanity too, realizing just how bad it was seeing her get hurt.

The dragon slayer hadn't noticed it until the night of the Winter Festival, but he _was_ different. This whole thing for Lucy was changing his instincts, thoughts, actions—heck, even his relationship with her, and that was something he didn't want. He enjoyed being her best friend, but his stupid heart wanted to change that and his body really wasn't helping.

Natsu hated being this protective of her. If there was one thing he knew about life, it was that things happened, for better or for worse. He knew. He'd stumbled across a whole bunch of crap in his life, but good things were in there too. Because of this, he felt ashamed for making the key-bearer feel bad about making some mistakes. It was entirely unreasonable and he was glad that Lucy yelled at him for it. Otherwise, he'd have gone on being an idiot without even seeing it.

Why couldn't he just feel normal around her anymore? He was sick of finding himself staring at her all the time…and looking away just before she saw. He was tired of reliving the moment that her lips touched his over and over again because he couldn't prevent his mind from drifting there. He was defeated by the urge to pull her against himself and just hold her beautiful self in his arms.

But most of all, Natsu was sick of wondering if she ever looked at him and had those thoughts rushing into her head too. Physical attraction, fine. He could deal with any physical challenge any day. Emotional need? That was a whole other story.

He'd never liked a girl before—in the way of wanting to pursue her heart. Natsu didn't understand _how_ to like a girl. He only knew that he did. The _real_ problem, though, was that he didn't know what to do with this fact and it was causing a lot of problems…like loss of sleep. He needed to figure this out so that he knew how to approach her in the future. Really, did he want to get involved with the whole "boyfriend-girlfriend" thing? Was he supposed to change his views on the whole subject just because there was finally a girl he wanted to claim for his own?

Natsu's brain was fried and a complete mess, yet it wouldn't give up thinking about the situation and let him sleep. He didn't even know if he _should_ try and get Lucy to be his. Things would get all screwed up between them if he attempted to court her. This was very clear to him after she had impulsively kissed him and avoided speaking of that incident like it had never happened. He wasn't one to worry much, but honestly, it was slightly hurtful that she refused to acknowledge the fact that she had ever touched him in such a way. While he could see her side of reason, this had made him so insecure he was fretting about what to do. He asked himself why he should mess up a great friendship by making a big deal of something that wasn't.

The fiery-haired male buried his face into his pillow and groaned in frustration. To him, that kiss _was_ a big deal. Perhaps it was because out of both of them, he was the only person who actually considered it a real kiss. It was exceptionally difficult not to when it was an extremely common recurring memory that haunted his dreams.

Still, the kiss didn't matter to her and Natsu had to see it that way too. Otherwise, there was no way he would figure out what to do in this whole fiasco. He had to understand how she felt in all this.

_I'd never be like any of those guys she dates,_ the fire mage thought in exhaustion. He wasn't her type, and that was that. Even if he pursued her with the interest of…being together, there was no way Lucy would ever see him as more than a friend. She was obviously not attracted to him in the same magnetic way he was drawn to her. Besides, to go after her would be to ruin the wonderful relationship they had established.

She would never want to be with him that way anyway. Natsu saw the way she acted around all those guys. It wasn't false, but it was different. The spirit mage became flirty and seductive, even sometimes acting as though the power she had as a Fairy Tail mage didn't exist. He didn't want her to be like that around him. It was wrong and he couldn't stand it.

He couldn't allow himself to hope.

Was…he thinking logically? Dang, Lucy had definitely screwed him up.

Suddenly, a loud banging sounded at the door and the fire-user sat up curiously. This…was _weird._ It was _chaos_ outside. How could there possibly be anyone out there?

The noise that somewhat resembled knocking, albeit rather more violent, came from the door once again. The sound was almost urgent in feeling. His curiosity quickly got the better of him as he swung his legs over the hammock and got up to confront the mysterious presence. However, he didn't forget precaution, lighting his hand up in fire as he approached the door. With his left hand, he disabled the lock carefully and turned the knob, making sure not to let too much snow in.

Unfortunately, he let go of the door when he saw exactly who was standing outside in the blistering winds. The fire on his hand dispelled automatically.

"You going to let me in?" the snow-covered individual shouted over the noise of the weather.

"Come on!" Natsu responded hurriedly, catching hold of the handle before the door could blow off its hinges and gestured to the mage to come inside.

Seconds later, the dragon slayer managed to shut the door again, but his mind wasn't on anything other than was just happened. The person at his door wasn't technically an actually person, per se, but rather a celestial lion spirit who was holding his master in his arms.

"You can put her on the couch," the fiery-haired male told Loke as he rushed over to the closet to grab some extra blankets and towels. He was mildly miffed now, feeling frustrated that Lucy had gone and done something stupid again to get into this mess.

Loke was standing near the couch brushing the snow off his shoulders when the dragon slayer turned back. Natsu's eyes drifted over to the couch where his partner lay unconscious, pale and blue-lipped. She was almost completely still, taking shallow breaths as her body shook uncontrollably.

He bit his lip, trying to keep his rage at bay as he look at her. Lucy wasn't supposed to look like this. She was supposed to be happy and smiley. She was supposed to be groaning at his actions. She was supposed to be acting like her weird self! She was supposed to be _anything_ but like this.

His heart shivered as he approached. She looked so fragile, like he could break her if he touched her skin. It scared him…but he had to do what he could to fix her. Feeling helpless was one of the worst feelings ever, and if he could do something right now, he was going to.

The fire-eater placed a blanket over her, despite the fact that her clothes were all wet. She would be warm enough if he heated the place a bit and got her body back to its regular temperature. Besides, he was pretty sure his head would explode if he tried to undress her. Dragon slayers didn't have that many weaknesses, but hormones were oddly effective.

Natsu fell to his knees beside her, slipping his hand beneath the blanket to find hers. He pulled her hand from her side and brought it to his mouth, breathing warm air onto her cold skin as if to thaw her from ice. She was cold to the touch and he wanted nothing more than to hold her close and breathe the heat of life into her.

His lip touched the back of her hand as he stared at the angelic visage solemnly. And Lucy had protested to being stupid…

"Really, Natsu, you've got it bad."

Damn it. He'd forgotten that Loke was here too.

"B-bad…" the dragon slayer echoed as he dropped her hand and got back to his feet, giving the lion spirit an unsteady look.

The former player simply adjusted the shades upon his face and shot his guild mate a cheeky grin. "I know everything there is to know about girls, Natsu. I _am_ the encyclopaedia of women. I know where to touch them…"

Natsu's face began to develop an unnatural shade of red.

"…what to whisper in their ears…"

A scene flashed through his mind like lightning. Lucy sat in his lap, his arms around her magnificent body as his lips grazed her ear, words from his mouth making her shiver in delight.

"…how to make them sc—"

"_OI!_" the fire-eater shouted, pinning Loke against the door by the shoulders with a sharp glare. His face felt unbearably hot as he attempted to ward off the delicious image in his mind with a picture of Makarov in a speedo. "Shut. Up."

Loke was unfazed this sudden turn of events and only returned a haughty smirk to the demand, continuing to speak anyway. "Relax, Natsu. It's natural for a guy—"

The dragon slayer interrupted him for a second time, twitching stressfully as he launched his fist at the celestial spirit, who, in turn, ducked out of the way. It was much easier to be angry at Loke than listen to his suggestive comments.

"It's okay to like pretty women!" the lion goaded him.

It was successful as Natsu lunged at his friend, but Loke continued to scurry away stealthily. "Come back here, you pervert!" he shouted, livid that the orange-maned man had implanted such _dirty thoughts_ into his mostly combat-filled brain.

Loke laughed as he danced around the table with the dragon slayer close on his tail. "All men need a beautiful lady to fantasize about!" he explained, facing Natsu across the table. He shuffled left, then right, both sides being well-covered by the hot-headed mage. Instead, he jumped over Lucy and the couch which triggered another chase. "You don't need to be ashamed for needing what a man needs!"

His face was burning so badly that even if he weren't a fire mage, he was pretty sure he would've spontaneously combusted by now. "You're disgusting!" Natsu countered pathetically, unable to give his words much thought after his head had been so massively eroded. They were running in circles and neither of them looked like they were going to give up anytime soon.

"C-cold…" a little voice whimpered into the room.

All rage subsided in an instant and was replaced with concern as soon as he heard that voice. He rushed over to its source and found her still shivering beneath the thick layer of blankets covering her. She couldn't seem to get warmer while her clothes were all soaked from the snow. Natsu decided to untangle her from the blankets and let her lie in front of the furnace instead. He would sit with her in his arms. He couldn't very well let Lucy lie on the floor.

He carried her over, bridal-style, and sat cross-legged, placing her gently in his lap with his back facing the fire. He would take the brunt of the heat so she wouldn't get too hot either. Her head drooped onto his bare chest as he glanced down at her. She really _was_ dumber than she claimed to be. What kind of person wore such skimpy clothes (like a _mini-skirt_ with _leg warmers_), besides Gray, in such freezing weather? What in Earthland was she thinking?

"You can't hide it, Natsu."

Damn it. His concern for Lucy's well-being had caused him to forget that Loke was there.

"She's all you can think about, right?"

Natsu turned his head to look at his guild mate in resolution. There was no point in lying to him. Loke was trustworthy and it wasn't like he was going to spend time flaunting the fact that the dragon slayer had a little crush. He might be a player, but he was never a backstabber.

"Yeah, everything," the fire mage confessed quietly. It felt good that he could confide in someone with experience. He really didn't know what to do, and there was no solution he had at the moment. He might as well get some advice out of it. "So…how am I supposed to like a girl?"

Loke looked at him in shock, gapping at the odd question. "H…h-h…_how?_ Did you just ask me _how _you're supposed to like a girl?" the lion spirit spluttered in awe.

Natsu quickly found interest in his floorboards, face hot. "Yeah, so?"

The celestial spirit shook his head with a smile. "My bad, I forgot who I was talking to," Loke apologized, bowing with class. He sobered almost instantly following. "Listen, there's no 'how' in liking a girl. There's no way you're supposed to act in this sort of situation, Natsu. You're not _supposed_ to know…how to be."

"Then…then what do I do?"

"That's not something I can tell you," Loke answered honestly. He looked to the ceiling with a fond, reminiscent expression, hands in his pockets. "I know what it's like…to find yourself staring at her without knowing, or to see her everywhere because you can't get her out of your head—or to wish you could be the one who could take away all her pain, but…" The mage spirit turned back to look at Natsu, "it's your choice on how you act on it. There is nothing wrong with doing after what you want, but there's never a guarantee that you'll get it either—at that…is the scariest part."

The dragon slayer absorbed this slowly, unconsciously pulling the girl in his arms closer in to his body. He couldn't bear to look at his guild mate when they were having this kind of conversation. "This isn't like a battle. I don't know what to do next."

The corners of Loke's mouth lifted gently. "Women are _way _more complex than battle strategies will ever be."

Natsu agreed with that statement wholeheartedly as he stared at the ground with conflicted emotions. There were so many things to consider when it came to Lucy. She was his best friend and mission partner. She had never shown any interest in him whatsoever and was constantly dating other men. He hadn't been interested in her either until she touched him and been so close to him. He wasn't one to be in a relationship, nor did he want to. She had become such a huge part of his life. He didn't want to change that, no…

But would it be okay to watch her hug another man? Could he bear to watch her go home with someone he didn't know? Before, yes, definitely. He'd just learned the true mean of "ignorance is bliss." Instead, now he knew that Lucy was his and it was causing him to question everything he used to know. He saw her and he wanted something else, and it was disconcerting that what he knew of himself could be so easily changed. Loke's advice was wise, but it still didn't fix anything for the dragon slayer.

"Natsu, I know I can't really help you. The best I can do is tell you what I've learned from my own experiences," Loke spoke, trying to console the lost dragon. "Don't…give up on love, Natsu. If there's something you'll ever regret in this life, it's missing out on love."

Natsu didn't reply, the words given only giving him increasing inner turmoil. He resented that he had to decide anything at all, but even doing nothing would be a decision. He didn't want regrets, but he didn't want this kind of change either. This was ridiculous; this procrastination wasn't getting him anywhere and being _logical_ (something he was told to do a lot but rarely did) was not helpful in any way.

He silently cursed his own inaction. Here he was putting in more hours into a useless debate with himself instead of acting. He never thought first. Why in the world was he starting now?

"I'll go now," the spirit announced politely, but Natsu's head swivelled rapidly.

"Wait," the fire-breather told him hastily. "You still haven't told me how you and Lucy ended up here." It was more on excuse for a distraction than anything, but even so, he did want to protect Lucy. There was really nothing wrong with asking. After all, his thoughts were already purely focused on the celestial mage.

Loke sighed, brushing his fingers through his mane of hair. "I honestly don't know. I felt Lucy's magic calling to me, so I came and found her lying face down in the snow. I could hardly see a thing, but I was lucky enough to bump into your house's sign trying to find shelter." The male paused before saying, "That…might need to be fixed, by the way. I kind of…crashed…more than 'bumped.'"

"Why was she outside in the first place?" the fiery-headed mage demanded, not actually expecting an answer.

Loke shrugged. "Dunno; your guess is as good as mine," he answered as he adjusted his glasses. "Hey…take good care of her, and remember what I told you."

With that, the lion spirit vanished, leaving only a small puff of white smoke behind that slowly diffused into the air.

Lucy's clothes seemed to be dry now, Natsu noted, as he felt her against his skin. He scooped her into his arms again and carried her back to the couch. Strangely enough, he felt hesitant to put her down, unable to bring himself to do so. Why did he feel as if he would never be able to hold her in his arms like this again? He didn't want this to end. This was the only time he could ever…

"_If there's something you'll regret in this life, it's missing out on love._"

He imagined her clinging to his arm just because she wanted to as they walked down the street. He imagined her greeting him with an embrace when he returned from a solo mission, telling him she was so glad he wasn't hurt. He imagined her…falling asleep beside him…as she whispered the words "I love you" into his ear…

This was thoroughly disgusting. He had seriously never felt like such a pervert before. How in Earthland did Makarov act like that all the time without any shame? He found the will power to set her down on the couch, his eyes avoiding her face. Natsu knew that if he looked at her addictive visage, he wouldn't be able to stop. This wasn't the first time he'd caught himself staring.

The dragon slayer couldn't get over her. There was an urge in him that wanted to steal back the form that had been n his arms only moments ago, and resisting, he found, was incredibly difficult—something he also found quite common these days. There was something seriously wrong with him and it was all Lucy's fault. Here he was, taking care of her in all her vulnerability, yet he felt more like the victim in all of this.

Natsu wished he had never discovered any of this. Life…used to be so much simpler. He had his important people and he cherished them. He'd just never expected to find someone that could be _more_ important than all the others. Even thinking that felt wrong. _He_ felt wrong.

He had to shut her out. Despite Loke's words, Natsu knew better. Lucy was the person in the guild he had become closest with and he knew her. He was not someone she would ever want to love like that. She would never be capable of feeling that intense attraction toward him that he felt for her. There were no "what if"s, and that left no room for hope.

So he had to shut her out of his aching heart.

He covered her with the blanket again, but left her arm exposed as he stared at her hand.

"Why did you have to?" Natsu asked the unconscious blonde, genuinely wracked with frustration. Similarly to earlier, he dropped to his knees to steal a glance off her beautiful face. "I could've gone my whole life not knowing and I would've been okay." Slowly, his fingers slid into the spaces between hers, just as she had done that fateful day that changed his life. He felt only a little better when he felt warmth again. "But you had to do it. You had to, and now…"

Swiftly, the male pulled away and stood, feeling humiliated by his own lack of self-control—despite the fact that nobody was around. He could still feel her hand against his though they were no longer connected, clenching his fist even as the memory remained. He could try not to want her, but it would never truly happen.

Quietly, he turned his back to her, eyes closed and hands tight as he shrank onto the floor, leaving unspoken words choked in his throat, wishing for sleep.


	6. Momma

**Author's Note:** I was faster this time, wasn't I? Well, not by much. xD Sorry, these chapters just keep getting longer and longer, but I can't help myself. I'm actually developing their love this chapter, so the whole thing's a bit bumpy. I hope you smile, I hope you feel sad, and I hope you squeal at any fluff. Please enjoy the chapter!

Thank you for all the wonderful feedback! My readers are the best. :)

Feedback and constructive criticism always welcome and always loved.

* * *

_**Possession**_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 6 - _Momma_**

* * *

Lucy was dreaming; there was no doubt about that. How else had she managed to get into a dancing competition with her partner? Dream Natsu didn't act like the regular one either. He was disgustingly chivalrous and spoke like a _true_ gentleman. Then again, it wasn't really so bad. She couldn't exactly feel him when he touched her either. Dreams were weird like that.

"Lucy, you are the beacon to my heart and soul! I love you!" he announced dramatically with grand gestures.

Holy crap, she had to wake up. This was just _so wrong._

Suddenly, Natsu melted into Gajeel in a bright yellow suit, proclaiming his undying love to her. "Thou art the most beautiful creature I have ever set these unworthy eyes upon! I cannot live without thee! This love hath swallowed me whole!"

The mage shot up abruptly and groaned, immediately feeling her head pounding painfully just as her heart was. A nightmare… Really, she hadn't had a dream so frightening since she was nine. She never wanted to experience such a terrible scene again.

Sadly, that was the least of her worries. She was experiencing what had to be the worst headache known to mage. Her throat was hoarse and drier than chalk and her whole body was sticky with perspiration. She could hardly muster rational thought up to wonder where she was and how she got there, though she had this sneaking suspicion that she'd been here before. Even with her eyes wide open, it was incredibly difficult to let her brain register the situation. Right now she didn't even care where she was. All she was concerned with was the desperate need for water that was torturing her.

As if the world was catering to her needs, she spotted a glass on the table and reached for it with much effort. For some reason, her surroundings were beginning to look familiar, but the brief recognition dissipated when she, at long last, managed to reach the cup. Relief literally flowed down her throat as she downed all the water in one go. Feeling significantly better though her head was still pounding, Lucy went back to that fleeting moment of déjà vu she'd experienced earlier. Why did this place give her a sense of comfort?

She looked at her hand, or more specifically, her finger, then to the ring that was placed on it. _Ooh_, it was _Natsu's house_.

But then…how in Earthland had she even gotten here? She remembered that she'd been out on a date with this cute amateur mage named Klarth. The blonde had dressed rather…sparingly, especially considering the season, but she'd wanted to look good! Her date was really into spirit summons and she'd wanted to take his mind off her keys to get them back on her. That boy was such a cutie, yet he still wouldn't focus on her even while they were out on a date! Instead, her skimpy legs had only drawn attention from other creeps on the street.

Was that what happened…? Lucy had ditched the douche bag when a celestial key displayed in a store window caused him to stray completely away from their date. She was on her way home when the snow started picking up, eventually becoming so overbearing in amount that she couldn't even figure out where she was going or find some place to take shelter. She remembered feeling weak and fighting against the raging storm outside. She'd fallen from a huge gust of wind, couldn't get up and…and…

What happened after that? It was all fuzzy from there. Oh well. Things could be worse. Instead of being at Natsu's house, she could've woken up in some creep's home or…a cellar being kept prisoner by a psycho. Actually, she supposed Natsu could be considered a psycho—he was crazy beyond belief—but at least he was a nice psycho, albeit somewhat of a pyromaniac.

Speaking of which, Lucy briefly wondered where her partner was. She couldn't even see through the windows because the snow outside had piled up so high. The only light in the room was from the furnace which was providing too much heat to let her be comfortable in clothes. Just now she'd realized how hot the room was. She wasn't even sweating bullets; it was more like golf balls were leaking out of her pores.

She was getting dizzy now, the glass she had consumed earlier inadequate for her dehydration. The blonde finally got to her feet, cup in tow, and stumbled over to the sink. Throwing the tap on, she abandoned the glass to the bottom of the sink and brought her hands together under the steady stream of cold water. Not caring in the least as to how it looked, Lucy began to drink from the basin she'd created. She'd never been so disengaged with her appearance before—outside of battle, at least—but the thirst gave her this horrible desperation that prevented her from even thinking of her looks.

When she was finally satiated, Lucy shut off the water and sank to the floor, clutching her head in her hands. She wasn't one to get sick very often, but when she did, it was always _really bad_. The headache was kicking in again and she couldn't possibly concentrate on anything. She shivered although the room was roasting and sweat dripped from every pore on her body. The heat was suffocating; she felt hot and cold—which one it really was, there was no way to tell—and she was in immense amounts of pain and discomfort.

"Momma, help…" she cried hoarsely, rolling over onto her side in a little ball. Images of her mother flashed through her mind. That was the person who had always taken care of her under any circumstance. Layla Heartphilia had held her through the nights of suffering that Lucy had endured over the years, sharing her daughter's pain and nursing her little girl through it all.

"Momma, please…" Lucy whispered into the air, begging for her mom to come pick her up, take her daughter into her arms and make everything better. That was what her mom had always done. She protected her child when she was vulnerable.

_But she's not coming_, the mage thought amongst her fogged head. _Momma's gone… Momma's dead…_

She always felt most broken when she thought of her mother, and in this situation, Lucy missed her more than ever. There were tears leaking from the corners of her eyes that wouldn't stop as she lay there. The heat had become unbearable, but she was too weak to move or do anything about it. All she could do was cry and feel miserable. She shuddered as an icy sensation drove up her spine. She was freezing and yet it was too hot. Her mind and boy couldn't handle the stress anymore and she was beginning to slip out of consciousness when the door finally opened. Lucy heard a curse through her quiet sobs, but at this point, it hardly mattered what was said and who said it unless it was her mother.

She closed her eyes, wishing that her mom would make it all better. There wasn't anything else she could think of doing, even if her mother was gone. The light was fading away from her, and it felt better than the torture of every negative sensation coursing through her body while she lay crumpled on the floor. The darkness was nice anyway. She could see her mother in the darkness, and really, that was all Lucy wanted.

* * *

Waking up for the second time was over 9000 times better than the first. When her eyes fluttered open, she found herself staring at the ceiling still in the room she had woken up in last time. However, the air was significantly cooler and her head was no longer stuffed with that intolerable headiness. On the other hand, Lucy still felt as tired as ever, but she was on the couch again at least. Then again, she could _see _that she was on the couch, but it really didn't feel like a couch. Her back was against some sort of weird pillow—a pillow that felt strangely good for such an awkward shape.

…A Natsu shaped pillow that breathed and smelled exactly as the fiery-haired dragon slayer did. It was only when she turned her head that she realized this. _Pillow_ was completely the wrong description. She was lying on Natsu.

Her mind cleared when she took another breath, now feeling the hands around her waist. The celestial spirit mage looked back at her partner in utter shock and confusion. _What the heck_ was he _doing_? _Why_ was he touching her and _why were they in such a compromising position?_

She was panicking, yes, but she didn't see any reason as to why she _shouldn't_ under this particular circumstance. Her _male_ partner was _holding_ and _embracing_ her like he was her _boyfriend._ Was he crazy—or delusional, perhaps? Or maybe he was just a _huge_ creep whose tendencies to never surfaced until now.

It honestly didn't matter to her as she attempted to wriggle out of his hold without waking him up. She wanted to get away from him, but she didn't want to disturb his peaceful slumber.

No, wait. Why should she care about his sleep? _He_ was the one being a weird, creepy pervert-guy who couldn't keep his hands to himself! Actually, now that she had this opportunity, she was going to make the most of it! She didn't get many chances for revenge against her friend for all his odd schemes and stupid actions. Mercilessly, she dug her elbow into the side of his face.

"Uwhaa…?" he muttered drowsily, waking up and letting go of her waist as he tried to figure out what was wrong with his deformed face.

Lucy let her arm fall back to her side as she shifted around on the couch and turned to face his. She glared at him as he rubbed his eyes, then his cheek. The male yawned once before blinking at her dully.

"Oh, you're awake."

"_Yes_, I'm awake," she huffed, shooting him the dirtiest possible look she could muster. "Now imagine _my _surprise when I wake up on top of a _guy!_"

"So I guess you feel better then," Natsu commented sleepily as he crossed his legs, completely ignoring her comment.

"Well, _yeah_, I feel better, but—" Lucy paused mid-sentence and considered this for a moment. _Holy crap,_ how long ago had she been crying on the floor with a pounding head and a wish that she could breathe anything but hot air? It couldn't possibly have been that long ago, so how did she feel so much better? "I _do_ feel better, but…"

"You sweated out the sickness," her partner explained casually. "I don't think you're really sick anymore."

The blonde placed a hand on her forehead, still wet from perspiration. Her temperature, however, was hardly different from her regular one. She wiped her hand on her skirt, slightly disgusted by the amount of liquid that was coming off her. If any other person were sitting in front of her, she would have rushed to disguise the fact that her back and armpits, among other things, were soaked from sweat. Heck, if she were sitting in front of herself, she would find this incredibly unpleasant to look at. It was a good thing that Natsu really didn't care about stuff like this.

_Hold on… Sweat… My being on top of him…_

Lucy shrieked in horror as she leapt off the couch, pointing an offending finger at him. Her eyes were wide in realization while she processed the sickening discovery. "T-that's why you were holding me!" She glanced at his well-toned torso, which was _bare naked_, before seeing that he was only wearing a pair of knee-length black shorts. "You're _sick_!"

"What?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You—you wanted to-to…! You…!"

"I wanted to what?" he pressed in obvious irritation.

"_RUB!_" Lucy shouted, feeling light-headed once again.

Natsu basically fell off the couch at this word. Her cheeks burned and the possibilities ran through her mind at amazing speeds. He never actively sought girls! He could be using her for his freaky, perverted fantasies that couldn't be fulfilled because he was more into combat than the opposite sex!

"Why would I want to rub?" the dragon slayer demanded in outrage with only one leg left on the couch.

"Isn't it obvious? The heat wasn't to cure me; it was to make me all gross and sweaty because you wanted to rub up against me with your own sweaty, naked body! You're the biggest pervert I've ever met!"

He stared at her in disbelief. "What _rubbing?_ You aren't sick anymore, so what's your problem?"

"My problem is that I woke up soaked with sweat in the arms of a half-naked man!"

"You _asked_ me to be there!" he shot back defiantly, arms crossed as he got to his feet. "You don't remember?"

Lucy recoiled at this. There was _no way_ that she would ever deliberately ask a sweaty guy (except Natsu wasn't sweating. In fact, he was quite cool to the touch…) to keep her in his arms. This was so impossible that she briefly wondered if she were dreaming again. "I didn't ask you for _anything,_" she replied with uneasiness in her stomach that made her feel as if something bad were going to happen.

"I guess you _didn't_ really ask me," Natsu admitted, appearing rather grouchy, "but I don't really like being called a girl either."

"_What_ are you talking about?"

"You were on the floor, so I picked you up and I was gunna put you back on the couch, but you wouldn't let go of me," the fire-eater told her as he dropped himself back onto the couch. His eyes sauntered over to the table where the glass she'd used before sat, refilled with the liquid-y goodness that had kept her sane hours ago. "You should have more water."

She wasn't interested in his suggestion. "I held on to you?"

"You kept calling me 'momma,'" Natsu replied with a touch of distaste.

Lucy groaned at herself, finding this quite pathetic. She rubbed her face in exasperation. She had seriously been edgy with Natsu lately, jumping to conclusions and accusing him of perversion and stupidity. Maybe his odd change had screwed with her mind more than she thought. She had just blamed him for complying with something she had subconsciously asked for. She seriously had to start slowing down…

Slowly, she re-seated herself, grabbed the glass of water, and chugged it. As soon as it was empty, she let out a breath and slammed the cup on the table. Summoning her courage, she looked directly into the eye of her comrade and said, "You…are _not_ a pervert."

He glared at her. "I _know_."

The blonde sighed at his response—which was well-deserved—and lay back into the soft cushions on the sofa. Her tired gaze returned to the ceiling before she placed her forearm over her eyes stressfully. She really missed her mom… Layla Heartphilia had been the best person in her life, and while she had great friends and family now, she wished her mom were here to do things for her that only a mother could.

Lazily, she turned her head to glance at the sulking dragon slayer whose eyes were glued to the door in grumpiness. Well, he'd forgive her soon enough. She knew him well enough to know that he never held grudges unless you tried to hurt his guild or his guild mates. She wondered if now was a good time to ask how she got here.

Then again, it was somewhat self-explanatory. She'd collapsed in the snow and was brought to his house by someone—probably Loke as she often called for him subconsciously when she was in trouble (he was the only one who didn't stare at her chest out of the males and her female spirits were either more capable in housework or stunningly rude and violent). It felt kind of awkward to _not_ ask about it. Her arm slid further back to unblock her eyes as she flopped her head over to look at her companion. His eyes were closed as he sat cross-legged on the couch. She was about to speak when one of his eyes popped open.

"Loke brought you in from the snow, you know," Natsu said, eyes both open and alert now.

Right, just like she expected.

"Why were you out so late by yourself?"

Lucy began to feel nervous. After that argument at the winter feast, to admit that she'd been irresponsible to him felt utterly shameful. "I was…um, on a date…"

His eyes narrowed and yet it was impossible to decipher the look on his face. "That's why you're wearing those weird clothes," he commented, mostly to himself.

"Yeah, that's why," she agreed, her cheeks burning in embarrassment. "I know it was stupid, but there's nothing wrong with wanting to look good on a date!"

"We already talked about stupid," Natsu spoke plainly.

"I know that's what you're thinking," the blonde countered spitefully. "You think it's stupid for me to wear that kind of thing when temperatures are sub-zero."

"I think…" he began roughly, though his words faded out and were never finished. The dragon slayer shook his head as he stopped himself, swallowing the words he had begun to say. "You can be stupid sometimes," Natsu said alternatively.

"And?" she pressed with a glare.

"I wasn't gunna say anything else," the fire mage lied rather obviously. He stared at his hands, twiddling his fingers distractedly.

"You'll tell me someday," Lucy snorted at her teammate haughtily. Her countenance melted into a frown when she thought of her date. "That guy was horrible anyway. He didn't pay any attention to me."

"I don't see why you still go out with all those guys," the fire-user commented.

"It's called _dating,_" Lucy drawled, giving him a long, hard stare, "and I happen to be looking for the guy I'm meant to be with. When I find him, that's when I'll stop. I doubt you would really understand."

Natsu gave her a very puzzling bittersweet glance. "No, I probably wouldn't."

A brief moment of wonder fluttered through her mind as she registered the look she had received before giving up. She didn't want to think right now, nor did she really believe that that expression had anything else behind it. Natsu never cared about love or romance. Why would he start now?

Suddenly, his eyes appeared to grow in intensity as he gazed into her soul's windows. It was far from being a glare, but she could feel the pressure of him digging into her. It was like an arrow had pierced her and she couldn't pull it out. It was the same look he'd given her when he'd cornered her those weeks ago.

"You remember when I gave you that ring…I told you that I was glad I met you," he stated as he ripped the arrow from her, blushing furiously. "Do you…feel the same about me?"

She was honestly speechless when that came out of his mouth. Every single time she thought she had him figured out, he had to go and do something sentimental that she would never, ever expect him to do. She was continually seeing sides of him that she had never discovered. Maybe she was actually something that nobody else had ever seen.

"Where…is this coming from?" Lucy asked, and she wasn't joking around. She really wanted to know. "Why are you so different?"

The last time she had asked that question, she had been hysterical and irrational. This time, however, her head was clear and she wanted to _know_.

He turned back at her, visage completely serious. His answer was short and simple.

"Epiphany."

She would've smacked him _hard_ if he hadn't saved her life so many times.

"Must've been some epiphany," she snickered sarcastically.

He ignored her. "Well? Are you glad you met me?"

The spirit mage very nearly keeled over in disbelief. She shouldn't _have_ to answer this question! "Are you kidding? I don't even know where my life would be if I hadn't met you. I'd probably be getting married next month and going to tons of parties with rich people. I'd be weaker, I'd have no keys, I'd have snotty high-class friends, and I wouldn't be happy." She shook her head, unable to fathom how this question had ever crossed his mind. "Yes, I'm glad I met you, but now you have to answer _me_ a question: what caused this so-called 'epiphany?'"

Natsu shrugged nonchalantly, saying, "You did."

"I did?"

"You did."

"How?"

"You said I only had to answer one question."

Lucy scowled at this. For a guy who never listened to his brain, he was pretty damn observant. She supposed it came from being a fighter as he often had to analyze his opponent to figure out a way to take him down.

The blonde changed the subject, asking, "So where did you go while I was unconscious?"

"To shovel out the rest of the guild," he replied breezily. "There were a lot of people trapped inside, even some random people that were just passing by when the blizzard started."

"It snowed that much?" Lucy asked incredulously.

He responded with an absent nod. "It's almost as high as the door."

Her eyes lit up like the glare of the sun off the water. She absolutely _loved_ playing in the snow. Being cold, not so much, but she used to make snowmen and snow angels, build forts, and throw snowballs…with her mom. Strangely enough, things kept coming down to her mother today. Perhaps it was just winter that was bringing Layla back from such beautiful, distant memories.

"I want to play," she said in determination.

"You only felt better an hour ago," Natsu pointed out in disapproval. "Besides, you hated it when we were looking for Macao."

"That's because it was freezing and it was snowstorm. It's not storming anymore!"

"You can't go out until tomorrow. You'll get sick again."

She cocked her head, seeing that uncommon side of Natsu once more. "When did you get so responsible?"

"Everyone in Fairy Tail is family, but we still have lives outside the guild. It's common for someone not to come to the guild every day," he began, staring out the window at the snow that was blocking all the light. "Igneel disappeared when I was pretty young and I only live with Happy. I had to learn how to take care of myself eventually."

Lucy treaded carefully with her next question. "Natsu, do you even remember your birth parents?"

This time he was looking at her. The dragon slayer shook his head in indifference, not seeming hurt in the least. "No."

Her heart sank for him anyway. Natsu really hadn't had a normal life. He obviously knew that he wasn't alone, but she felt like she needed to reassure him of this. He had watched over her; it was only right for her to do the same. Sometimes she forgot how fragile he really was. He never showed his vulnerability, but she knew it was there and right now was a huge reminder of that. Besides, after the question he'd asked her today, it was evident that he had insecurities of his own. He was afraid that she had regrets because of him when she never did and never would.

Out of pure impulse, she flung her arms around his neck, forgetting that both of them were hardly in appropriate attire for even something as innocent as a hug. Still…she wanted to protect him like he protected her and really, this was the only way she could do it.

Her head rested on his shoulder as their legs tangled together on the couch. "Then…let's make a deal. Neither of us have parents in our lives anymore, so if either of us get sick or hurt…or feel sad or angry…we'll take care of each other."

She felt his stiff arms uncross from beneath her stomach as he returned the embrace, holding her torso gently. "That…sounds fair. That means you have to listen to me today."

Lucy turned in his arms to return to the position they'd been in when she first woke up and freaked out. "Yeah, mom," she confirmed cheekily with a grin. "I won't go outside today, but you have to promise you'll play in the snow with me some other day."

She suspected she would've received a face-palm for that if he wasn't holding her right now. "Then…I promise."

With a smile, the celestial mage turned on her side and snuggled into her partner's chest. It was odd and yet more comfortable than she'd ever been with a guy. She almost forgot that this was _Natsu_ and not a guy she should be in such intimate situations with, but she brushed this fact out of her head. Logic didn't weigh in here. Not today. Not when this was so perfect. She just wished she could find a boyfriend that could make her feel this way.

"Sleep time, momma," she joked, closing her eyes.

Natsu responded with annoyance in his voice. "I'm _not_ a girl."

She grinned. Yup, Natsu could take care of her just fine.


	7. To the Limit

**Author's Note: **Woohoo! Another chapter finished! The next one isn't nearly as long as this one (I think), but I'm really proud of how this one turned out. I think you guys will _love_ reading it! Thanks to everyone for all the feedback! Each opinion is valued! :)

I will be starting university in about two weeks, so I don't know how this will affect my writing time. I've never been one to just get good grades without trying, so I really don't know how much time I'll have for this story. For this, I apologize because I'm already agonizingly slow at updating. But please, bear with me through the school year! I hope you guys understand. Meanwhile, bask in the glory of this chapter. Even _I _love it.

Constructive criticism and feedback is eternally valued, as are all you readers!

* * *

_**Possession**_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 7 – _To the Limit_**

* * *

"You _promised,_" Lucy pointed out grouchily, "and I'm _so bored._"

Natsu had to agree with that statement. He too was indeed completely bored out of his mind—suffice to say that he'd _known_ it was going to be a tedious mission, but he hadn't possibly expected it was going to be _this _bad. Then again, he supposed he kind of had this coming when he let his very _female_ partner choose the mission. Of _course_ she had to choose something with no fighting that involved something totally brainy. This mission was _not_ his thing. In fact, he was surprised he had even survived sitting in this room for so many hours without blowing it up. It was so incredibly dull that he was going out of his mind from the greyness of it.

"I'm bored too, but we can't just _leave_ Happy," the dragon slayer replied, thinking of his poor cat. The client had really taken a liking to the feline and decided to take Happy _everywhere_ she went. Needless to say, Happy was being treated like royalty among cats while he and Lucy were stuck in this little room to file documents for this woman.

Yes, dragon slayer Natsu Dragonil had _filed papers_…_**without destroying everything**__._

Well, it wasn't as if he hadn't had urges to set all those white pieces of kindle up in glorious flames; it was just that Lucy would murder him ruthlessly if he ruined the mission or did something even remotely bad. It had taken an incredible amount of effort to stay within the rules. This room was so tiny, painted a disgustingly dead shade of grey, and filled with even more grey filing cabinets. Natsu was bordering on claustrophobia after hours in here.

"Happy is off eating millions of sardines while we're stuck in this horrid place. I'm sure he'll be _fine_ in that meeting room," Lucy pushed in exasperation. She had her knees pulled up to her chest as she sat on the floor, desperately trying to convince him to leave with her.

Actually, Happy _did_ seem pretty joyful in the client's arms as he munched on fish, but…she was clutching the cat so tightly and so lovingly… Natsu resented her for it. Perhaps it was the thought of Happy being stolen from him that made him so upset. His friend seemed so content with that evil woman. It was that dumb lady's fish! That was it! But he needn't worry because Happy would not choose fish over friends! He really wouldn't!

"Natsu, _please,_" the spirit mage begged in frustration. "I _need_ to get out of this room!"

This room indeed. This room that was extremely closed and private; this room that was sound-proofed; this room where he could easily corner Lucy and kiss the living daylights out of her; this room that had soft carpeting, perfect for—

"You're right, let's get out of here," Natsu spoke before his thoughts could go there.

She squealed in delight and dashed to grab the jacket and scarf she had discarded in a corner, tossing him his own eagerly. He caught it, though was not given a chance to put it on as he was dragged out the door.

The rest was easy. Once they were out of that hideous room, Lucy had no problem in pretty much hauling his body outside the building. That girl was magnificently powerful when she was motivated.

Outside, they travelled to an open field with the building a rather large distance away. Lucy pulled out a pair of mittens for herself as well as a pair of earmuffs, donning her equipment as she prepared to play in the fluffy, white substance known as snow. Natsu really didn't get the fascination with the stuff. It was the weakest things against his magic and was therefore classified as stupid in his mind.

Besides, he was much more interested in looking at Lucy. After all, she looked pretty cute when she was all bundled up like that. Of course, he much preferred it when she was just wearing a t-shirt and shorts or something. The dragon slayer didn't like it when she was wearing so many accessories—except for his ring. It made very little sense to him that a person would put so many objects on her body. They served no purpose but to impede fighting ability, which automatically meant they were a bad thing.

Well, he'd still bought her an accessory, even while believing such objects were worse than useless. Because of this, he couldn't really say that they _were_ useless objects. The ring meant something to him. He'd _bought_ it to show that he cared for her in at least a platonic way. He _had_ bought it before he realized that she was _the one_, but the action was still triggered by emotions.

He pushed a hand on his face in distress, watching Lucy begin to roll a ball of snow in to be a bigger version in childish delight. He wasn't sure when exactly he had gotten so sentimental and mushy, but Natsu was quite certain that the stellar spirit mage had something to do with it. The fire-eater looked at the big picture, not the little pieces that created it, and yet somehow he had ended up doing exactly the opposite of what was normal of himself.

Great Earthland, he _was_ different. He _had_ changed.

The dragon slayer was an undoubtedly stubborn person. There was almost nothing in the world that could break his resolve if he had made up his mind. His determination was world-renowned (well, it _would_ be if he were famous)! Heck, he'd go charging in to any battle that he couldn't win so long as it was for his guild or a nakama.

It seemed a little pathetic that all _that_ could be crushed by a girl. Of course, _this _girl was damn gorgeous, as frightening as a train, nearly as stubborn as himself, and ten times weirder. There was no other person in the world who could ask him to go on a mission to _file documents_ to which he would comply with.

It was ridiculous, submitting to a request that resulted in several hours of psychological damage because he craved to see her smile. He couldn't bear to see that look of disappointment on her face when he told her "no," so he hadn't and it had landed him here. Curse that hopeful glance that Lucy pulled off so well!

He was honestly the biggest mess imaginable at this point.

"Natsu, help please?" the subject of his thoughts called to him, a hint of struggle evident in her voice.

Dumbfounded from being cut off from his train of thought, Natsu looked at his partner in questioning silence. However, all was explained when he saw Lucy attempting to pick up a giant snowball she had rolled next to an even bigger one.

"You want me to put the small one on the bigger one?" he inquired as she dusted the snow from her mittens. He had a vague idea of the creation she was so keen on making. He'd seen it plenty of times in his life.

"Of course!" she replied with a pout, moving away so that Natsu could have access to the frozen sphere. "It's a snowman, Natsu. Is there any other way to make one?"

He grunted at her, picking up the ball with caution. He didn't want to melt the weak thing. "It's not a man though. It should be called 'lumpy snow monster.'"

"What kind of name is that?" she asked rhetorically, in disbelief of his suggestion. He was placing the mid-section atop the base now, feeling Lucy approach his back to peek over his shoulder. "I guess it _is_ accurate though. They really don't look like men."

_Almost there…_ the dragon slayer thought frantically. He was just about letting go of the large snowball, but the feeling of Lucy's breath on his neck was driving him insane. Edolas, she smelled so good!

He was rapidly losing concentration towards the task at hand and he couldn't place the object in his hands properly on the base. He began to shake, holding himself back from turning his fantasies into reality. The reality was that he couldn't stop himself from doing everything. Multitasking had never been so difficult. Natsu could feel his face heating up.

And, apparently, so did the rest of his body.

Lucy's gasp hardly registered as he stared forlornly at the mass of liquid that fell from his arms. Indeed, multitasking was hard.

"My snowman!" she cried in devastation, causing Natsu to cringe.

Well, that had been a disaster.

"S-sorry… My hands just…" he apologized rather feebly. Shame was eating at him. Such a mistake was not to be made by a mage of his calibre. He had mastered control of his body temperature several years ago. The distraction of Lucy was no excuse for making a mistake of something so simple.

She sighed before glancing at him. "It's fine. We can just make another one. We have tons of time anyway," the blonde insisted optimistically. Immediately, she began to gather snow in her hands again as she crouched down to the ground. "I'm making you roll it this time though!"

"Alright, alright," Natsu answered in submission, still completely miffed by his own inability to dictate his actions.

The stellar spirit mage stood up and held the snowball in her hands out in offering to the dragon slayer. "Get rolling."

He simply stared at the object for a moment before he grabbed it, making certain he had his body temperature under control, of course, dropped it to the ground, shoved his hands stubbornly in his pockets, and started to kick the ball around the snow. This day was just getting worse and worse.

"Stupid lumpy snow monster," he muttered as he carried out the task at hand. Everything was really his own fault, but it felt better blaming a ball of snow. It honestly did. It wasn't going to be part of a real man anyway!

Natsu kicked the snowball again, growing steadily bigger as it rolled along. Half of him was panicking like there was no tomorrow for the fact that Lucy was causing him to lose control of himself. Her _breath _on his _skin_ had demolished any ability to keep himself in check, which was _not good._ It was a legitimate reason to freak out. Lucy's being could destroy him if he couldn't keep control.

On the other hand, the other half of himself was glad he was experiencing this. _This_ was what he called a challenge. Sure, Gray could claim to be his equal, but Natsu could one up him any day. Gray was a million times easier to defeat than this attraction. Well, he was always willing to take on a challenge. It was too bad that this one was giving him a pretty severe beating in the winning department.

Suddenly, a thought hit him _hard._ Creation Day was in the spring. _Creation Day was in the __**next damn season.**_

The fire mage began to kick the ever-growing ball at a quicker pace as all parts of his mind converted to panic mode. That day hadn't crossed his mind since Igneel had told him about it. What in Earthland was he going to do on that day? What was he even _supposed_ to do?

He exhaled to calm himself. Right now was not a good time to kill himself by freaking out. Making a mental note to discuss this issue with Gajeel sometime, Natsu looked at the snowball he'd developed in satisfaction. Yup, it looked great. Perfect for a lumpy dude.

"Oi, Lucy," he called to her, "how's this?

She stood up from where she'd been drawing a picture of the Fairy Tail logo on the ground. The reaction came quite speedily when she turned around, her jaw dropping down as far as it could go, her eyes wide in incredulity, and her body limp and frozen in place. She didn't move or say anything for a very long time.

Natsu assumed that was a good thing. She was definitely surprised by how gorgeous and pristine he had made her snowball. In fact, despite Natsu's hatred for ice and all things associated with the weak substance, he actually found appreciation for his creation of beauty. _That _was something he could be proud of.

"Natsu…" she finally spoke, though the rest of her body remained in its place, "…it's ten times bigger than mine."

He raised an eyebrow. She had a problem with his gargantuan awesome-ball? "Yeah? So?"

"_That_," Lucy began, pointing at his masterpiece, "is supposed to go on top of _that._" She was now pointing at her own tiny ball.

"Uh huh…" he nodded. The fire-eater did _not_ comprehend this issue of hers. Did she think that he didn't know snow monster anatomy or something? Well, if so, the female mage was sorely mistaken! Of course he knew they were made of three vertically stacked snowballs! The only difference with _their _snow monster was the fact that theirs was going to look the coolest _ever._

"Just—I—never mind," the celestial spirit mage sighed, palm of her mitten on her face. "You know what? I don't feel like making a snowman anymore."

"But my snowball is still the _best_!" Natsu protested. His creation couldn't just go to waste!

"What if you blow it up instead?"

"_Now_ you're talking!" he agreed instantly, forgetting of his wondrous creation in favour of his love for destruction.

One well-placed Fire Dragon's Roar later, bits of snow were drifting through the air although the forecast had clear skies. Natsu simply felt full of life! True enough, he did often explode things unnecessarily or wreck parts of towns, but he never did so purposely. Most of those times he was actually _holding back_ and still did a ton of damage—though honestly, it had only been recently that he learned to be aware of his surroundings when battling an enemy, mostly due to threats against his life by Erza and Lucy. Well, it had been a long time since he had really let his magic loose and boy, did it feel good!

"Are you done?" Lucy asked him, smirking in amusement.

"I guess," he answered with a shrug.

"So then what do we do now?" she asked him with a sigh.

He crossed his arms in concentration. "I dunno…something fun?"

She gaped at him in offence. "_I'm_ fun!"

"Of course you are," Natsu drawled, luring her into a little trap he'd spontaneously came up with. She seemed to be walking straight into it too.

"I _am_," the blonde protested grouchily. "Fine then. _You_ choose something to do."

Ah, there it was. Exactly what he was aiming for. "I will," the dragon slayer answered, attempting not to smile at Lucy falling for his impromptu setup so easily.

The only problem was that he hadn't thought of an activity to play quite yet, and he had to choose carefully if his idea wasn't going to be outright rejected. He'd gotten this far! He couldn't afford to waste the chance. Besides, to see Lucy partaking in something she usually wouldn't would be pretty priceless to watch. A lot of the things he enjoyed doing, the spirit mage wouldn't be caught dead being a part of. Like…he'd _love_ to spar, but really, fat chance _that_ would ever happen. Nope. So what could he possibly think of that would be fun for him and tolerable for her…?

A smile crept up his face. "Tag," Natsu said, leaving no room for questions.

Rejection, however, was very much a different story.

Oddly enough, it didn't come. "I…can live with that," she submitted with minor hesitation. Of course, she wasn't finished, "on one condition."

It was fairly uncommon for Lucy to set conditions, but this _was_ a game where much physical activity was required. Obviously the blonde wanted to benefit from playing a game that she, well, _frowned_ upon. She wasn't the most talented person when it came to things like running or climbing.

"What's the condition?" he inquired, getting down to business quickly.

Lucy looked at him hard, determination burning in her eyes. To him, it was a beautiful sight, causing his heart to skip a beat before he regained composure. He listened intently for her answer, making sure that he suppressed the blush that threatened to take over his face.

"I get to choose the next mission."

He didn't even have to think before he opened his mouth. "Deal."

Several minutes later, Natsu was mentally congratulating himself on a job well done. He marvelled at the accomplishment of getting his partner to play a childish game with him, control excess blood flow to certain areas of his body (no, not that one! Well…at least not today…), and make his favourite girl smile with the fulfillment of her condition all within the span of five minutes. This day was turning out better than he thought it would.

He was preparing to enter maze of snow, courtesy of Virgo, thirty seconds before Lucy. The rules the two had established together for this strange game of tag rang clear in his mind. If Natsu found the exit of the maze before Lucy caught him, he would win, but if he was caught, the victory would be hers. The loser was to confess undying love to Gray in the presence of Juvia, even if he was male. The punishment would be equally as severe.

The rules for himself were that he could not climb over walls, break them, or use his magic to help him to the exit. Lucy, on the other hand, pretty much had free reign to the map and magic. The only obstacle for her was that she had to physically touch Natsu herself in order to win. Truthfully, he really liked these rules. The challenge only made the game sweeter.

"Let us begin," Virgo announced as their appointed referee. "Sir, you may enter the labyrinth."

He wasted no time, launching into the halls of ice with great speed. If he was lucky, he could get through at least half the maze before Lucy was allowed to hunt him.

The dragon slayer cursed, finding a dead-end after his choice in the first intersection. At this point, eighteen seconds had already passed. Things were definitely not going in his favour. Instead of getting angry, he backtracked as fast as he possibly could and took the correct path. Twenty-two seconds.

Natsu travelled the straight path until he hit a four-way. Which way? Twenty-nine seconds.

Left. Thirty.

Approximately three seconds after those thirty, he discovered, in relief, that he had chosen the correct path. It was also the same time that he started getting shot at with arrows by a certain horse spirit. He decided to stop thinking about the paths and just _run_. Dodging another weapon that embedded itself into the ground, Natsu realized that he scarcely had time to think with Lucy's celestial beings trying to slow him down. With this in mind, he encountered Loke eight seconds later.

"Who knew you'd get her to play tag?" the lion spirit asked airily with a smirk, a beam of light from his ring bursting at Natsu.

Natsu ducked, letting the blast hit the wall and create a rather large gap. "You know how powerful I am," he boasted, now jumping through the hole that Loke had created. He grinned and looked at his friend haughtily, waving. "Thanks for the short-cut!"

Following that interaction, he shoved in a random direction by a potent current of water, got chased by Taurus and his giant axe, dodged countless blades (mostly scissors), was asked by the referee if he could "stay there for one moment" while she got him some tea, and was tripped by Lucy's whip planted in the snow. His adrenaline was pumping wildly through his veins as he raced down the icy paths.

This…was incredibly fun.

It was actually a little disappointing when he saw the exit because he knew the game would be over, but maybe he could get his pretty celestial spirit mage to play again sometime. After all, he was just about to win.

…Not.

The spirits of Gemini appeared in front of him at the exit standing back to back. "If you want to win this…" Gemi started.

"…you'll have to get through us!" Mini finished, skipping around in a circle.

"My pleasure," he responded, about to light up his hands when he realized that he wasn't _allowed _to. If he used magic, he'd be disqualified and lose!

So…was he just supposed to beat up the little spirits with his bare hands? The thought made him uncomfortable, especially when they were now transformed into their owner's form, looking cocky. This was just a little too weird for his liking…

Okay, he wouldn't hurt them. He'd just…subdue them or something. That would work, right?

Natsu once again prepared himself to charge at the doppelgangers when they vanished in a puff of smoke. At the same time, he heard the crunching of snow behind him at a high pace. That was when he realized that the Gemini twins were simply a distraction. He turned around, but it was too late.

The wind was knocked out of him as a body came barrelling into him at great speeds. The fire mage fell onto his back, his assailant lying on top on him as he panted to restore his breath.

His attacked was breathing just as heavily, apparently exhausted from her sprint to catch him. She spoke one word. "Tag."

He…lost.

Except…it really would've been loads more devastating if he weren't so completely turned on. If he were being honest, this couldn't possibly be a better situation for him. Feeling so alive with adrenaline and having the girl of his dreams on top of him was a combination that was heavenly.

It was unfortunate that he couldn't enjoy it. This feeling challenged everything he was fighting against and it was to _goddamn good._ Right now, he wanted to pull her closer. He wanted to dominate her and kiss her to kingdom come. He wanted to tear off every piece of clothing on her body and feel her soft skin against his own. He wanted…he wanted…

Sweet Edolas, he just wanted her.

But he denied himself this desire, even while her cheek was brushing against his. He fought with every fibre of his being not to give in to those urges, every justification he'd ever thought of coursing through his brain. _This_ battle, he couldn't afford to lose.

So why were their lips getting closer?

Was he really that weak? Was he really moving in for the kill even when he was trying his absolute hardest _not_ to move at all? No, no, he could stop himself…! He could…fix this situation. He had to. He couldn't bear another false kiss.

Natsu was dying. They weren't moving closer anymore, but her lips were centimetres away from his own. _Two_, to be exact. Earlier, her breath had touched his neck, yet that time was _nothing_ compared to this. His hormones were dancing with glee while the rest of him was fighting an uphill battle. The fact that the war was at a stalemate was a feat in itself! This was a miracle!

At last, Lucy rolled off of him onto her back, still breathing heavily. He was dizzy and basking in the feeling of relief as he stared at the sky. The dragon slayer really didn't know how much more of this he could take.

"I win," she declared softly, as if nothing had happened moments ago. He felt a little fragment of his heart chip off as it throbbed in his chest. Awkwardness had been avoided at the cost of acknowledgment. Still, he tried his best to stay himself.

"Ugh, and we made a bet. Now I have to tell that annoying guy that I'm in love with him," Natsu complained genuinely. He had really thought he was going to win the game.

She giggled lightly. "A deal's a deal." The female lifted her arm to look at the watch on her wrist before she jolted up in shock. "Oh my gosh, we've been out for almost three hours! They must be out of the meeting by now! We have to go back!"

With that, he was dragged back to the building in very much the same way he'd been dragged out of it. Lucy had turned out to be right. The client had been out of the meeting for an hour when they returned. Luckily, she was so taken with Happy that she hardly noticed their absence. None of the jewel reward was deducted, Happy was so fat that Natsu figured the cat wouldn't have to eat for a week, and they were on their way home by means of that wretched train.

Naturally, Natsu felt horrible, but only partly because of the evil, moving vehicle. He was extremely conflicted as they rode for home, staring in all his motion sickness at the sleeping beauty sitting in the cart with him.

He'd come to one conclusion: there was no way he had moved when Lucy was on top on him; _Lucy_ was the one who'd moved. _She_ was the one who initiated the almost-kiss and _she_ was the one who stopped it.

The fiery-haired male had never been so utterly confused.

He didn't know what her ignoring the incident meant, nor did he know why she nearly kissed him or why she stopped it. What he _did_ know was that that kiss was so close to happening and Lucy was the one who'd created it., He knew she wasn't giddy like on that day he'd given her the ring. He knew that _that_ wasn't on impulse.

She felt something. And he finally knew.

Looking at the serene angel in front of him, Natsu nearly smiled despite the sickening churning in his stomach. For the first time since he'd realized his feelings toward her, he felt like he had a chance.

And damn, it was a great feeling.


	8. Boiled Over

**Author's Note:** Hello! Yes, university has destroyed my life, but please, do not be upset. I sacrificed my sleep to get this chapter up for you guys. Seriously. So please just be happy for the chapter? Okay? Thanks.

Thank you to everyone for the feedback! I've been working damn hard for this and knowing you guys appreciate my writing is really one of those things that get me through the days. I probably will be taking a while for the next update, but bear with me. The next chapter is a _really _big turning point. Be patient? Things are gunna get crazy in this story.

Anyway...enjoy! (Please excuse the pathetic editing job...)

* * *

**_Possession_ - **by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 8 - _Boiled Over_**

* * *

"Who is your ideal man?" Lucy read to herself as she sat in the train booth with a dying Natsu and a sleeping Happy. She was reading her favourite sorceress magazine. This was a very useful page for her. After all, she was nearly nineteen and she wanted to get married when she was 25. This page might provide to be the most important key to her love life!

She quickly whipped out a pen from her bag and tapped her chin thoughtfully as she stared at the page. "Write all the things you want in a man in the box below," she murmured quietly.

Lucy chose her words carefully but swiftly. It wasn't like she didn't know what she was looking for in a man. He, ideally, of course, would be _handsome_ and _smart_ and _sweet_—not to mention _sensitive_. He would have a great sense of humour, dark hair, a love for reading, and hopefully a beautiful voice he could serenade her with. _Ooh_, and he would be perfect if he was a powerful mage who could save her from anyone and anything! Maybe she would be the only one who truly understood him too! The spirit mage had had a boyfriend like that for a while, but his blatant distaste for her spending time with her guild was what drove her away. Oh well. He didn't fit the rest of this list that well anyway.

When she was finally done writing down all the qualities in her ideal man, Lucy glanced at the next step. "Now, cut the list down to three," she read, eyes moving back up to the box. The blonde pointed to each trait with the end of her pen, gauging their importance one by one. She ended up with powerful, understanding, and loyal, which she concluded, were actually quite reasonable choices. She needed someone she could lean on, someone who understood her, and someone who would never betray her. _That_ was what she was truly searching for in a man.

The results of the test, however, would have to wait as the train halted in its tracks. Having arrived at their destination, Natsu, seated across from her, grumbled and pulled himself up. He looked slightly less worn now that the ride had ended. Speaking of him, Lucy had not forgotten what had happened between them on their last mission at all. Though she acted like nothing at all had happened, she felt insanely embarrassed about what had transpired that day.

She knew that she had almost kissed him.

Natsu was _not_ a boy that she would ever try to kiss, but he had an extremely powerful quality about him that always seemed to make her want to. During that game of tag, she'd won by tackling him, but it that moment, it was identical to when she'd received the sapphire ring she wore all the time. It was that magnificent feeling that rendered all logic useless and brought all her senses jumping to life. It made her feel like the most important thing in the world was to get close to him—to taste him, feel him, smell him—to remember the touch of his lips and the warmth of his body…

She dared to say…that she might even be attracted to Natsu, which was very seriously not a good thing. It was annoying because, damn it, he was her _partner_ and closest friend in the guild. That was just _wrong_. Secondly, she wasn't easily attracted to guys, so being attracted to a male whom she wanted nothing to do with romantically was a little more than frustrating. The reason this was so _boggled_ her. Natsu did _plenty _of things that turned her off. He was loud and savage, often manipulated her into doing things she would never otherwise do, broke into her home on a daily basis, was incessantly destructive, and made fun her _all _the time.

…Yup, he made that switch go right off.

Even so, it didn't change the fact that she was physically attracted to him. Lucy was already desperately hopeful that the dragon slayer hadn't noticed how she'd edged closer that day. If she knew Natsu, she wouldn't have to worry about that _too_ much since he was oblivious to love. Heck, last week some annoying _floozy_ hit on him while they were walking from her house to the guild together. That chick had been tossing comments about his "godly" physique like her life depended on it. While the blonde was forced to swallow a little puke that came up the wrong way, Natsu told the woman that she should get some muscles too, because she looked kind of pathetic and weak. Needless to say, the burning of that lady had assured her that Natsu was oblivious to all things about dating and love.

And yet…there were times where he was strangely enigmatic about those types of things. It brought her back to the night of the blizzard and the mysterious thing he'd said. Lucy hadn't succeeded in decoding that incident in the least. Maybe she was simply overanalyzing?

Whatever the thing was, Natsu was pretty normal around her. That was exactly why she had to act normal around him too. The fact now was that she was _attracted_ to him. The only consolation she had for this issue was that he felt nothing of the sort for her. That had been determined months ago and it helped that if she at least couldn't control her hormones, _someone_ could.

Either way, it didn't feel all that great to be the girl who was attracted to her best friend. That's why she wasn't going to let herself be affected by that this weekend, and her resolve to keep these horrid things off her mind grew stronger now that they were finally at their destination.

As soon as the blonde exited the train, she heard a squeal from the platform saying, "_Yes!_ We're finally here!"

Of course, the excited voice belonged to Levy, who was jumping up and down with glee. Lucy could hardly blame her for being so eager and restless. Those who had decided to go on the trip to the hot springs seemed to be quite content being there—save Gray, who had only come because Natsu claimed that the ice wizard was afraid of hot water. Even Erza looked like she wanted to hurry and get inside to the good part.

"Let's check in!" Makarov announced from near the ground. "Erza, why don't you make sure everything's in order?"

With that, he started walking toward the building front of them while the spirit mage could practically feel the healing water on her skin. Her mood was hardly changed even when it was proven that their guild master's lecherous way would always be the same. Erza had discovered at the front desk that Makarov had reserved an extra large room for himself to share with all the women. Somehow, nobody was really surprised.

After adequate arrangement had been made, all the members hurried to their rooms to put their luggage down and get to the hot springs. They left Gray and a sobbing Makarov lagging behind as they sought their accommodations with zeal.

"Oh _Earthland_," Lucy moaned when she finally sank into the steamy bliss. The mage had been looking forward to this all day. Still, she didn't dare remove her towel when her perverted master was lurking over the wall of stone where the males' private bath was.

Some people, like her roommate Cana, didn't seem to mind so much. "_Damn_, that's almost as good as a shot," the dark-haired alcoholic groaned, basking in the water in the nude.

"It certainly is relaxing," Erza agreed, also very aware of the perversion that could be waiting around the corner.

Suddenly, voices rang out from over the wall: "YOU'RE GUNNA DIE, GRAY."

All the girls set their eyes upon the ex-quipper expectantly.

"Very relaxing," she repeated, eyes closed in ecstasy.

Following that, the female mages began to talk as girls would. Lucy felt the weight of the world lifting from her shoulder. Ah, yes… She was so light…

"So how are you and Natsu progressing?"

Oh, there was that anvil she'd just got off her back!

"We're progressing well," Lucy stated tersely, "as friends."

A snort came from Cana. "Oh, _please_. You two are all over each other."

"How are we _possibly_ all over each other?" the blonde scoffed, crossing her arms. Today was supposed to be a day to relax, and yet here she was trying to get out of being "Natsu's girl" once again.

"You go to him when you're upset," the blunette piped up.

"He's _extra_ strong when you get hurt," Erza added briskly.

"He spends more time at your house than his own," Wendy chimed in, receiving confused looks. "Well…Happy tells me things sometimes."

"You sleep on him when you're tired," Mirajane supplied helpfully.

"And, above all, _you_ cannot stop touching that _ring_ he gave you," Levy finished, pretty much delivering the final blow.

These facts left Lucy dumbfounded. She didn't know how to counter all those things so she at least tried to find words that would leave her with some dignity. "It's not wrong!" she protested stubbornly. "He's my best friend! Those things…t-they're all normal!"

She winced even as the denial exited her mouth. It really sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than the others. Honestly, how could a person say anything with solid confidence if she was _stuttering_?

"But…" the small dragon slayer started shyly, "…aren't you Natsu's…special someone?"

Wendy's comment caught her off-guard and her face felt hot—and it wasn't because of the steaming water. Really? A twelve-year-old was speculating things in her love life too? She hardly knew what to say.

"I—we're not…" Lucy attempted quietly, rightfully stunned.

"No, no, Wendy. She's his _girl_," Levy corrected easily.

"I'm _not,_" the blonde persisted.

"Oh, is that what we're supposed to use as the term?" the young healer inquired, completed ignoring Lucy's protest like everybody else.

"In this situation, it's pretty suitable," Cana answered as she lay against the outer wall of the spring with her eyes closed.

"So is Levy Gajeel's girl then?" Wendy asked innocently, genuinely curious.

"Well, I sort of…hope so," the solid-script magician responded, wringing her hands together in embarrassment, glancing into the water.

Lucy smiled despite herself. It was nice to finally be out of the frying pan and watch one of her friends (who'd put Lucy _in it_ in the first place) simmer for a little while, but it was so very obvious that there was no other person for the steel dragon slayer and so incredibly adorable how uncertain Levy was of this fact. The whole thing was enough to get those stressful moments of being proven wrong out of her head.

"I doubt you have anything to worry about," she assured the blunette supportively.

Sadly, it backfired. "Yeah, but _you do!_" Levy launched back, immediately focusing on the previous subject once again. "All you keep saying is how you and Natsu won't be together, so what are you going to do when he finally summons enough courage to tell you how much he loves you?"

This question was the second one today of which she didn't know how to answer, but after so many weeks of being attacked on the subject of her love life, she was nearly unfazed by it. Her friends were delusional. They really were. She had no idea how they kept seeing something clearly wasn't there.

Taking a deep breath, she readied herself to set her guild mates straight. "Okay, listen. _I_ will not have to tell Natsu _anything_ because he will not ever _tell_ me that he _loves_ me. Thus, I have nothing to _worry _about as _Natsu_ is not _in love_ with me and _never will be_." She glared at them for emphasis, though it didn't seem very effective.

"Well, that's a little familiar sounding," Mirajane giggled softly.

"That's because it's the same thing I said the day I found out that I'm supposedly 'Natsu's girl.'" Lucy explained in exasperation. "_Nothing_ has changed since then."

The waitress gave her a cheeky smile. "You're right. Nothing has changed. You still haven't done anything to prove to us that you and Natsu—as a couple—don't exist."

The celestial spirit mage bit her lip, having nothing to say to that. She had been beaten and she really had no fancy retort for that statement. Mirajane had presented the hard truth and there was nothing she had to counter it with. She and Natsu had only gotten closer since that day, truly enough. Was that so wrong? Did that make her destined to be with him?

No, but it _did_ make her attracted to him…

Quickly, she got out of the springs, grabbed a robe to put on, and headed back to her room without another word. She hurried back, needing to get away. As soon as the door was closed, she slid to the floor in mental exhaustion, pulling her knees up to her chest. Lucy understood that her friends were just teasing her, but sometimes it was just hard to take. Their persistence was really quite remarkable.

But…enough was enough. They didn't realize how they were making her feel right now and the spirit mage just needed to escape for a while. She just wished that they would give the stupid topic regarding her and Natsu a rest. Whatever happened to normal conversations that didn't involve boys and romance? The blond was most definitely not opposed to _those_ discussions.

"Open the door!" Lucy heard come from behind her.

Startled by the command, she blinked. "What?"

"_Open the door_," the male voice hissed once more.

Realizing that her partner was on the opposite side of the barrier, she got to her feet and slid the door open. A very dishevelled Natsu came rushing in, slamming the door into its previous location hastily. He appeared to have just come from the hot springs too, clad in the same robe she herself was dressed in. The dragon slayer was much tenser, however, eyes darting back and forth apprehensively before oddly flattening himself against the floorboards, face up.

"Natsu, what are you—" she started, words coming to a halt when he place an index finger above his lips, eyes telling her to shut her mouth.

As directed, Lucy stopped speaking. Several seconds later, the key-user heard loud footsteps erratically pressing through the hallway outside. She shot a questioning look at Natsu when she heard Gray, whose footsteps she presumed she was hearing, screaming, "COME OUT, COWARD. TODAY, YOU'RE _REALLY_ GUNNA DIE!" He went on making big threats as Lucy watched his shadow move past her room through the papery walls. He stormed away without stopping, death threats loud and clear along the way. Her partner stared at her until silence came over the two of them.

Reluctantly, Natsu sat up. "Thanks; Gray's really serious about killing me this time," he explained, looking a bit anxious.

"What did you do _this_ time?" Lucy asked in annoyance, seating herself in front of him. _Of course_ he would have to conceal his silhouette by lying on the ground and hiding in her room. She hadn't noticed the ridiculous lack of privacy these traditional rooms were until now.

"I threw him over the wall of the hot spring to the girls' side when we were fighting," the fiery-haired mage cackled, marvelling at his accomplishment. "I actually think ice boy got lucky. Erza and Cana aren't as bad as Erza, Cana, _and_ Lisanna."

"_I_ should kill you. I only left the hot springs a few minutes ago," she told him, but the mention of that place brought her back to the negative feelings she'd adopted today. She hardly looked prepared to make good on her words.

"I don't see why—hey!" Natsu changed his thought process mid-sentence and grabbed onto her arm. Lucy looked down, somehow feeling as though she couldn't face him, but the stubborn fire mage lifted her chin to make her eyes meet his. It was strange how this was comforting to her, his amber eyes seeming to send her strength. "You're…sad."

Abruptly, she pulled her arm out of his grasp and shot him a sour look, unwilling to run from this next challenge. "I'm not."

He didn't back down. "You don't have to lie to me, you know. I said I would take care of you."

She stared at him for a moment before something inside her cracked and the reservoir of stress just broke. Her body began to quiver as tears emerged from her eyes and slowly trickled down her cheeks. As hard as she tried, she couldn't keep her emotions at bay, covering her face with her hands.

"Hey, hey! What is it?" the spirit mage heard him ask frantically.

Lucy only continued crying, unable to answer his question through her frazzled mind. She wasn't thinking about _anything_ right now; she only wanted to cry her troubles away. When a familiar pair of arms encircled her body, the vulnerable sorceress responded automatically throwing her own arms around her support.

The room was quiet, save for her sobs as the blonde cried into her best friend's chest. She could feel his fingers running through her hair and his hand massaging her back. She felt him holding her up when the world around her collapsed, so she clung to him because she need him and because at that moment, he was the only thing in the world that existed. He was her saviour. He was _always_ her saviour.

When she was finally done, Lucy squeezed the dragon slayer closer. "Thank you," she whispered hoarsely, snuggling her face into his chest. The stress of the day seemed to have dissipated out of her system. Natsu didn't have to say a thing to help her.

A knock on the door had her pulling away from him. He stood up with her as she examined the feminine shadow on the other side of the barrier. Wiping her eyes, she felt good enough to face whoever was knocking. Hesitantly, Lucy slid the screen open only to see a shy-looking Levy standing there.

"Am I…interrupting something?" she asked, oddly leaving out the suggestive tone that she would usually use for situations like this one.

"No," the stellar spirit mage answered calmly, yet suspiciously. "Natsu was just leaving."

"Yeah, I was," he agreed though was still rooted to his place. Natsu sent her a look, silently asking if she was going to be okay.

She smiled at him in response and he nodded, acknowledging his other guild mate on the way out. Once the door was closed again, Levy stood there looking at the blond a little nervously.

"Hey… I saw you leaving the hot springs today," the solid-script mage said softly. She looked incredibly guilty as she stepped forward and embraced the celestial spirit mage tightly. "I saw how upset you were and I know that it's my fault."

Lucy was astounded by these words and simply let her companion say what she wanted to say. The blunette pulled back, putting her hands on the blonde's shoulders. "I didn't mean to get so carried away and upset you. If-if you say that you don't like Natsu, I believe you. I'm…really sorry about how I acted in all this. I wasn't thinking about how you would feel."

Lucy was touched. It took a lot of courage to admit you were wrong and her friend was here apologizing about it. After all this, at least her companion finally understood how she was feeling. She moved forward to give Levy another hug.

"Thanks, Levy-chan. I appreciate the apology," the summoner said, smiling.

They separated and the solid-script mage grinned. "I promise I won't talk about this anymore. Jeez, I'm such a jerk!"

They key-user laughed. "Maybe Gajeel's rubbing off on you."

"Maybe he is," Levy agreed, giggling. She opened the door, getting ready to leave. "It's dinner in about five minutes. You coming?"

Lucy considered this for a moment, but decided that she'd rather have some privacy for the time being. "No… I think I'll just call it a day. Thanks again, though…for that."

"Hey, I'm supposed to be a _good friend_!" Levy emphasized cheerfully. "Anyway, I guess I'll see you in the morning. I'll make sure Cana doesn't bother you if she gets drunk later. Night!"

One last wave had her companion out the door and Lucy left with the quiet she'd been craving for a while now. It felt like everything had been lifted off her shoulders, having cried her eyes out and knowing her girlfriends would no longer pester her about Natsu. She certainly couldn't be angry with Levy after she'd apologized, no matter how stressful the harassment had become. They were going to stop and that was all the gesture she needed.

Unfortunately, their words stuck to her mind like glue. Their argument and all facts supporting it were true. Did that make her wrong? Did that mean that she wanted more with the fire-eater than she already had? Did that justify her attraction to him?

No; they were friends and it was _wrong_ that she could look at him and feel the need to kiss him. Lucy sure as hell didn't have any romantic feelings for him. There were zero signs that indicated that she liked him in that way. They were best friends! She was allowed!

The attraction must be a phase, the celestial spirit mage reasoned. Oddly, she often seemed to wind up in situations that she felt she should experience with her boyfriend with Natsu instead. Your senses could easily trick you into feeling something you didn't if the surroundings were right. She just ended up in those scenarios with her best friends a lot. The busty blonde, however, was not going to have her feelings manipulated. She wouldn't fall for Natsu just because everything seemed to be pointing that way.

Of course, it would be nice if there was something pointing _elsewhere_ for a change.

Grinning, Lucy walked over to her bed and pulled out her sorceress magazine. She could look at the results of her "Who's Your Mage?" quiz. After all, it had been six hours that she'd been waiting to see the results.

"Page twenty-seven…" she mumbled quietly, flipping through the pages as she looked at the bottom numbers grow larger. "Ah-ha!"

With the page correct, she looked into the enchanted square on the sheet and saw a mage with a sculpted body, rose-coloured hair, and a scaly, white scarf grinning at her. His hands were both lit in fire and he looked like he was ready to take on any challenge.

Closing the magazine grumpily, Lucy threw it at the wall.


	9. Creation Day

**Author's Note:** It's been a very long month for me, full of midterms (which I nearly failed even after hours of studying) and failed chemistry labs, but all your encouraging comments helped me pull through. Thank you to _everyone_ who took a moment of their time to review. It really took some of the stress out of my life.

By the way, I attempted to participate in lit'ashe's Fairy Tail Writing Challenges and only had enough time to complete one round, but if you feel like reading a short and rather depressing Natsu x Lucy one-shot, check out my story _Minutes_.

On a _happier_ note, it's another chapter! This one _really_ gets the ball rolling, so prepare yourself! I hope it's worth how long you've all been waiting-and don't worry; this story is _far_ from over. :)

**Warning:** Hotness lies ahead. ;D

* * *

_**Possession**_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 9 – _Creation Day_**

* * *

Stupid dragon traditions. Natsu didn't normally abhor them, but this upcoming day was not one he enjoyed in particular. Dancing on the New Year was fine and the Festival of Dragons was usually pretty fun. He just didn't understand why, amongst all things, dragons had a specific date to, well, up their libido.

Dragons mated for life and this day was no exception to the rule. It was just that males adopted a stronger sense of smell as well as an insane hormone boost, and females gave off a more powerful scent. Therefore, males would be more attracted to females leading unmated dragons to find partners. Of course, this often led to a night of love-making, thus giving the day the name of "Creation Day."

Unfortunately, if you were a dragon slayer who knew his partner was supposed to be and _did not_ want to expose his feelings to this woman, you were screwed. Natsu knew this very well and had been putting off what he should do about it for weeks until today. With that wretched day being _tomorrow_, he couldn't put it off any longer. He needed Gajeel's help with this.

He had never had to worry about Creation Day until now. There was never a person that existed who he'd been attracted to and so the odd symptoms hadn't affected him much. Every girl smelled different and he hadn't felt drawn to any of them, _including_ Lucy's. Now, however, the scent of her body drove him _insane_.

It occurred to him that the day she triggered his emotions was the day she pushed him into maturity. There was just no other way that any of this would make sense. He hadn't been ready for a woman before—physically, that is—but his body was now telling him he was. He couldn't take it! Mentally, this whole thing was causing him chaos! Boyfriend, girlfriend, life-long mate…_no!_ He _wasn't_ ready for this sort of thing!

Then again, his mind often told him otherwise. Natsu could imagine himself holding her hand as he walked her home at night or Lucy sneaking up on him to give him a hug… Man, did he love having her in his arms…

The dragon slayer was disgusted with himself. Was this what it was like to have feelings for another person? Thoughts of her would just randomly pop into his head? Well, he didn't like it. It was interrupting other important thoughts—like food…or which prank he would play on Gray next time.

Well, he knew _now_ that there was something in Lucy that he didn't know about. She'd tried to kiss him that day in the snow, but stopped herself and never mentioned it afterwards. Natsu had gone over it a thousand times in his mind and still had no idea what she was feeling. Was it possible to be with her or was this just wishful thinking? Whichever it was, he'd spent far too much time trying to convince himself that this was something he didn't want. Somehow, being asexual just seemed like such a good idea. Too bad he'd gone past the point of no return a long time ago. Besides, the rose-haired dragon slayer had opened the door to a pleasure that was strangely addicting. He wasn't even sure if he could _close_ that door anymore.

Natsu didn't understand how seeing one person happy could make him feel so good, especially if his actions had triggered that joy. It felt like he was being selfish, but he couldn't stop anymore. His heart soared when she smiled and broke when she cried.

There was something very wrong with him.

Whatever these feelings were doing to him, he simply couldn't avoid this anymore. Tomorrow was incapable of letting him.

"Happy, do you see Gajeel?" Natsu asked, eyes scanning the room quickly.

"He's sitting in that corner over there," the cat answered as he flew down to eye-level.

The fiery-haired mage nodded, rushing over to the table of solitude where his fellow dragon sat with Pantherlily. They were a bit of a strange duo, sitting in a content silence, but the fire-eater made his presence easily known by shoving his face up close to Gajeel's.

"I gotta know," the pyromaniac started determinedly, "what are you doing about tomorrow?"

"I have a mission lined up," the iron mage replied without blinking. "What are _you_ doing about tomorrow?"

Natsu flinched and backed up, plopping down into a seat stubbornly. "I dunno, but it's too late to find a suitable mission and I need to be able to keep control."

"What's tomorrow?" asked the dark cat suspiciously.

"A day in Hell for any dragon," Gajeel answered without giving the feline much to go on. At that, Pantherlily shrugged and hopped off the table, walking off in indifference with Happy following.

"There is _no_ way to avoid this," Natsu groaned in frustration. He slid a hand down his face, scolding himself for not facing this day earlier. Stupid, evil hormones. Stupid dragon traditions.

"Shit, she _got_ you, didn't she?" Gajeel stated more than asked, grinning.

"Who?" he countered, playing dumb.

"_Lucy_, dumbass," the other laughed. Natsu didn't really take any joy in seeing his friend get a kick out of his troubles. "You realized that it's _her_."

"Shut up," the fire-eater muttered grumpily.

"Alright, alright, chill. I can help you."

"How?"

Gajeel rolled his eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Just stay home. As long as you don't catch her scent, you'll be fine…mostly."

"That's it?" the fire dragon slayer asked skeptically as he raised an eyebrow.

"That's it."

"Huh…" Natsu mumbled in thought. Could things possibly be that simple? Really?

Feeling rather stupid, the rose-haired mage stood up, nodded his thanks and began to walk home. He'd been worrying over this for nothing? The solution was far from complex. It would be nearly impossible to screw up this plan.

* * *

_Damn you, Gajeel! I hate you, bastard!_

These were the thoughts running through the dragon slayer's head as he lay on the couch in agony. His nose was _dying_, he couldn't focus on _anything_, and everything that was wrong and dirty invaded his mind. Great Mavis, he'd never regretted not cleaning his cushions so much before. They smelled like a combination of body odour and flatulence (which was probably not very far off from what really _was_ in there). He was a pervert lying amongst the scent of a garbage dump.

And Gajeel was a filthy liar. Natsu was _far_ from fine.

Natsu was genuinely afraid to close his eyes for fear of getting another seductive image of Lucy appearing there. Each time he did, she seemed to beckon him to who-knew-where, waggling her finger at him suggestively in attire that the fire mage found her most attractive in: a t-shirt and a pair of fitted shorts. He was honestly frightened by what might occur in his brain if he did anything more than blink. Fortunately, that was probably the worst thing about today. His heightened sense of smell was a pain when his house was clearly unsanitary, but it was child's play dealing with that compared to turning into a raging, hormonal lecher.

The silence, at least, offered a little comfort. Happy had gone to the guild hall by himself once the fire-breather had assured his companion that all was well. All, of course, was _far_ from well, but Natsu knew the cat wanted to see Charle. Those two really had been doing a lot better since the winter festival. Besides, being alone meant nobody else had to see him like this—not that he'd _known_ it was going to be this bad when he found his mate. It was quite shameful to be lying here so helplessly.

A knock on the door came and Natsu rolled over to sit up, pinching his nostrils together with one hand and wiping away the ever-building perspiration upon his brow with the other. Who the hell could it be? He _really _did not want to deal with visitors right now, especially if it was a female. He would die from the smell.

"What?" he demanded gruffly, his voice slightly off due to the nasal compression.

"It's Lucy! Are you okay?"

_SHIT_. Just when he thought his day could possibly get any worse…

"I-I'm fine! You don't need to be here!" he shot back hastily. Lucy could _absolutely not_ get near him. Knowing she was on the other side of the door was bad enough!

"Yes I do! Happy said that you weren't feeling well, and I have a promise to keep. I can't just leave you by yourself!" she countered stubbornly, her voice half muffled by the piece of wood separating them.

"Yes _you can_," Natsu pushed ardently. Holy, when that woman was determined, she was _really_ determined.

"No, _I can't_," the blonde persisted, now sounding a little annoyed. "Natsu, I'm not leaving! There's obviously something wrong. Your voice sounds weird! Either open this door or I'll break it down myself!"

Panicking, he leapt up, running to barricade the door. She wouldn't actually break it down, but she had plenty of spirits that were entirely capable of doing so. His fingers left his nose so as to retort in an undistorted voice and convince his partner that he was completely fine, but the scent that hit him rendered the fiery-haired male practically useless. Something potent and wonderful was seeping through the cracks of his door. It was like flowers and mangoes, soft and yet it sent chills throughout his body. It was hypnotizing, so beautiful that any rational thought crept right under the fence away from him. He was losing his mind and he was losing control.

…But what did control matter? Natsu just wanted to open the door. Whatever was emitting that smell, _he wanted._ It was just in his instinct to forget who was out there. All he knew was that it was female and _she_ was what he wanted.

Mechanically, he turned the doorknob and the rest of the contraption flew open. The dragon slayer faced an irritated Lucy with a face of indifference as he drank in her appearance. She was slightly flushed, hair in her signature style with a side tied up. She looked to be breathing heavily as she stood there, hands on her hips, as if she'd been running a moment ago. The key-user looked casual today, clad in a pink t-shirt and a white pair of shorts, a small bag strapped across her body.

All this was to his liking. Oh yes, she was _definitely_ to his liking.

She looked at him quizzically. "What's with that face? You don't really look sick, but you're kind of—"

In one swift movement, Natsu pulled her forward with one arm, shut the door with the other, and pushed her back against it with the rest of his body. He had a knee between her legs and both his hands gripping her waist now so that she wouldn't escape, but with the way she was frozen, it really didn't seem like the spirit mage had any intention of trying to. He leaned his head into the side of her neck, taking in the beautiful aroma she was radiating. He could see that her eyes were closed as she released slow, shaky breaths and it only drove him crazier.

His impulse was to kiss those sweet lips of hers, but the human inside him overrode that instinct and told him to cherish this moment. He was still in no way clear-minded. It was just that the emotional part of him needed to feel close to her in a way that wasn't just physical. Right now, he could hear her heart beating next to his, and _that_ was what the man inside truly wanted. Natsu wanted to wake up beside her in the mornings. He wanted to know that _that_ heart was only his to hear and not some weakling pretty boy's who Gray could probably beat up.

The dragon slayer let out a low snarl. No, Lucy was _his_. She belonged to _him_ and nobody else.

Defiantly, he claimed her lips, right hand now firmly on her back and the left on her cheek. Natsu rarely felt hot, but at this moment, his whole body was on fire. Her skin was like static to him, every movement of his lips electric and exhilarating…if only because she was kissing him back.

Her arms, before limp from shock, were now around the fire-eater's neck as she fell against him to deepen the kiss, skilled tongue darting into his mouth. He moved his own arms around her torso to support her body, growling when her hand grasped at his hair. _This_ was what pure pleasure was and _this_ was the only thing that could possibly satisfy him right now.

When he moved his mouth to her neck, Lucy let out a delightful little squeal that pleased him more than it probably should have. He nipped at a piece of her flesh gently, then sucked on it roughly as to mark her as his own.

"N-Natsu…" she moaned as he worked. "I… I…"

He lifted his mouth off her skin, marvelling at the small, red signature he'd left on her. Yes…

"I…"

Natsu kissed the spot tenderly, possessively.

"I…"

He raised his head to kiss the side of her chin.

"What the _hell_ am I doing?" Lucy suddenly screamed, wrenching herself from his arms. Her eyes were wide from horror and Natsu's brain was still too fogged to bother wondering if it was horror at him or at herself. He didn't care. He just wanted to be kissing her again.

He stared at her, still stuck in a trance. "You…belong to me."

"Wha—what the heck is wrong with you? You're looking at me like I'm a piece of flaming meat!" she shouted in anxiety, ducking away from the door-trap she'd been in.

The hypnotized male said nothing and moved toward her again, her scent coursing through his nostrils. _He wanted that smell._ She was _his_ and he would have her back.

"Natsu, stop now!" she warned him, pressing her hand first to her empty hip on reflex before sticking her hand in her side bag. She cursed softly as she rummaged through it with her eyes never leaving him, stepping backward every step he took.

He didn't even hear her warning. He was so close to her, so intoxicated by her smell that he rushed forward to take her again when he was sprayed in the face with a liquid that stung his eyes and absolutely _murdered_ his nose. He fell to his knees, holding his neck as he hacked madly, the powerful stench burning his air passageways. His eyes were shut tight, but they were in far less pain than his nose and throat. What in the…?

A glass of water found its way into his hand and he drank it desperately without objections. Who…? What…?

"You'll be fine in a minute if you're done being a pervert. I just sprayed a little perfume in your face, although _believe me_, Natsu; if you were anyone else, it would be _a lot_ worse."

"L-Lucy…?" he rasped out in confusion. Everything was so hazy. He tried to remember what had happened, but he simply couldn't come up with memories from only minutes ago. He'd gotten so high off Lucy's smell that he couldn't even remotely recall what had occurred. "You—you were at the door…"

"Yeah, I was, but that's hardly what I'm concerned with right about now."

"You wanted to come inside," the dragon slayer recollected, blinking rapidly as some healing tears formed in the corners of his eyes.

"I kind of wish I hadn't."

"Did…I open the door?" he asked in anticipation. Everything after that time was foggy in his mind. His vision was returning now at least and it was fairly evident that Lucy was not very happy with whatever he'd just done.

She let out an exasperated sigh and Natsu felt this familiar sense of déjà vu when he looked at her. He ripped his gaze away when he saw what she was wearing today. He had a feeling that he'd already thought about how gorgeous she was when his dragon instinct took over.

Natsu was scared. He was sure he'd kissed her. He could still taste the strawberry from her lip gloss pretty well, and if that hickey was any indication that he'd been necking her, the rose-haired mage would not be surprised. No, it wasn't a surprise, but _hell yes_ was this terrifying.

Everything he'd held back from in those last few months were in vain. _This_ would complicate things. _This_ would make her hate him. _This_ would break their friendship. Holy Edolas, how could he even blame her? He'd _violated_ her like a man with no respect for her. It sickened him…

The worse part? He couldn't remember any of it. If Natsu was going to lose his best friend over this, he at least wished that he could _remember_ the fulfillment of something he wanted so badly. At least then…he'd have something left.

"Alright, Natsu, what exactly just happened?" the blonde asked him patiently from the couch.

He shot her a disbelieving look. Lucy was giving him a chance to explain? No, no, no, that wasn't right. She _never_ gave him a chance to say his piece. There was always a quick verbal explosion before he even managed to get a word in!

Well…he had a chance. He might as well use it. "It's Creation Day on the dragon calendar. Guys kind of…look for a partner whose smell suits them." _And who he wants to be with forever,_ Natsu wisely chose to leave out.

"…Are you being serious?" She asked hesitantly, giving him a skeptic glance.

He shot her _another_ look. _What do __**you**__think?_

"Right, so dragons have a day of…horniness?"

Natsu wished he had a small hole to crawl into at that time, grimacing at the dirty word. If he'd ever been embarrassed, _this_ was definitely the worst time ever. It was worse than accidentally melting a snow monster torso and worse than professing love to Gray in the presence of Juvia. Instead, he simply nodded with this disgusting churning feeling in his stomach. He hated that the word described his situation so accurately.

"And you only snapped out of it because…"

"That stuff you sprayed in my face. It stinks," the humiliated mage mumbled, staring at the ground in shame.

He watched her carefully in his peripheral vision. The stellar spirit mage appeared to be a little stressed and he really didn't blame her. Her brow was furrow in thought though her eyes were closed, resting her head in her hand and her elbow on her thigh. She looked so troubled…and _he'd caused it._

It was probably wrong that he wished he remembered, despite the shame that was eating at him, but then he considered what _could_ have happened. What if he'd done something to hurt her? He was only sure of the kissing and the necking, but those were the only things with _evidence._ There were things he could've done…

"Look, Natsu, I don't want us to be weird because of this—"

"Why aren't you mad?" the dragon slayer interjected hoarsely. "You _should_ be mad."

She looked shocked this time. "You don't think it's my fault too? I mean, I didn't exactly…discourage…it…"

"Huh?"

"You don't remember?"

"I don't remember anything," Natsu conceded, struggling to figure out what was going on. How did the world turn upside down when he had only lost consciousness for a few minutes?

"Oh my gosh," the summoner gasped in some sort of revelation. She shot up off the couch and began to pace back and forth in turmoil. "You didn't even know what you were doing; you were just acting on pure instinct!"

What exactly was she getting at? "I know, and I'm sorry… It just kind of took over…"

"No, no, no!" she exploded frenetically. "You don't get it! That means I…"

"I…?" he echoed questioningly. He was getting more and more confused.

Lucy flushed darkly. "_I_ took advantage of _you_."

He blinked at her thrice with wide-eyes. "I don't get it."

Natsu wasn't quite sure, but he thought he saw relief on her horror-stricken face. Precisely what had she taken advantage of? It wasn't like they were in a battle where he didn't have magic and she did. He was seriously never going to understand this. The universe was full of paradoxes today. Things that should have happened were going in the exact opposite direction.

The blonde got up, seemingly traumatized by this whole ordeal. She took him by the hand and led the bewildered male to the sofa. Sitting down, Natsu felt a tad uneasy. Things were _far_ too calm. She should be jumping to conclusions and condemning him for the way he violated her, so why did she look so conflicted?

"Natsu, you're forgiven."

He stared at her incredulously. "_What?_"

Lucy sighed as she ran a hand through her silky tresses, looking just as guilty and shameful as he did. He could feel his brain exploding from the amount of information he was taking in that made no sense.

"You may not remember what I did, but I was wrong too, so I'm sorry too," she told him softly. "I…shouldn't have come. I shouldn't have disturbed you."

"You were worried. You were just being a good…friend," he replied, the last word making him feel a little nauseous. He still wasn't sure what the other part meant. "You were just keeping your promise."

Lucy smiled at him gratefully. "I don't want this to make us weird."

"How would this make us weird? We're either friends or we're not."

"Of course it's _that_ black and white for you," she laughed lightly as she stood up, tension in the room finally falling through a bit. "Well, it's not like anyone else is gunna know about this anyway. Do you need this?" The summoner offered him the perfume she'd attacked him with earlier.

He shook his head. That stuff was _nasty_. "No, I'll be fine if I'm just home alone. The smell is stuck in my nose anyway."

Shrugging, she tucked it away and walked toward the door. "I'm glad you're okay," she spoke sincerely.

"Yeah, and I'm sorry for…_that_," Natsu apologized again, another blush working up his cheeks.

Again, she laughed and he admired how easily she was shaking this off. Things were looking up, strangely enough. "It's fine, Natsu. No harm done." The door clicked open and she looked back at him. "Just…maybe give me a warning next time."

"Sure," he coughed awkwardly before she gave a wave and walked out.

Tired from all the commotion and no longer willing to think of such events, Natsu fell back onto the couch until the stink of his sofa breached the flowery scent that had stuck in his sinuses. He let out a hiss of frustration as he jerked the cushion beneath him violently from its place and stalked off angrily to go wash it in the bathroom.

Stupid, evil hormones. Stupid dragon traditions.


	10. Rumination

**Author's Note: **Lookie here! I was pretty fast! I won't complain about school this time, since I might as well just suck it up and deal with the marks I'm getting, but once again, I'm so grateful by all the support you guys have been showing this story. Thank you to each and every one of you for sparing the time to drop me some feedback and encouragement! They've helped me push through some of the toughest weeks of school I've had so far.

The last chapter was very well received (due to Natsu's hotness, I'm presuming. Heh.) and I'm hoping you guys will like this one just as much, even though it doesn't have the same intensity as the last one. _Possession_ actually came to life because I wanted to write the scene at the end of this chapter. Well, gee, it only took me a year to actually get to write it. Aren't I patient?

**Why did Natsu forget last chapter?** Well, I kind of equated his Lucy-induced state to being drunk. Hence, he forgot everything. That chapter was mainly to help nudge Lucy forward too. You'll see in this chapter.

Anyway, one last thing: this is going to be the last update for at _least_ another three weeks, unfortunately. I have a lot of projects to work on and finals are coming up, so I won't be working on this story until the end of the semester. Hey, I think you guys have proven to be pretty patient with me anyway, so it won't be so difficult, right?

Instead of feeling sad, please love this chapter and proceed to read it many times until I can update again. :)

**The ending scene was inspired by _MyAibou_'s YGO Revival Series (Part II, chapter 11). I credit her for this scene.**

* * *

_**Possession**_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 10 - _Rumination_**

* * *

Lucy had never been one to avoid a friend because of a problem. Yes, she _did_ succumb to it occasionally, but not now. Right now, she was just trying to figure out how to maintain a straight face while she was secretly freaking out about her best friend. They'd…"made-out", as the gentle way of putting it. Things could never be normal for her again.

Thing was, he didn't remember it at all.

How was she supposed to live with herself knowing the dirty details of that situation while he didn't? Natsu seemed to accept what he felt transpired that day so long as she was okay with it too. Well, the summoner had come to terms with his part in the whole thing and so she let him escape from the feeling of shame for any longer. She, however, was completely appalled at her own lack of logic when it came down to that first lip-lock when she stepped through the front door…or rather, she was shocked by the way her body had reacted—mostly because it had been instantaneous and completely instinctual. Lucy would even go so far as to say that she was a little disturbed by herself for letting go on for so long.

She was so confused with herself. The blonde, admittedly, was somewhat attracted to her friend but she didn't just comply with a surprise kiss because of _attraction_. She had morals! Still, she couldn't understand why she hadn't reached for her whip (which hadn't been there anyway and was the reason she'd ended up spraying "stinky" perfume in Natsu's face) the moment things had gone weird. She would have done it to any other guy—a well-practiced technique after receiving so many pinches to the tushie.

Sadly, that wasn't even the worst part. No, that wasn't even _close _to the worst part. The worst part was the inevitable truth that she'd pushed it further, made it dirtier, and crossed all sorts of red-lines. At that time, she'd _wanted _him. Rational thought had flown out the window and she'd surrendered to hot, raw intensity.

What the hell was wrong with her? She enjoyed the whole predicament _way _more than she should have. "Should have" would be that she'd hated it. The truth? The memory of that day still made her heart palpitate uncontrollably and her face flood with red. It hadn't repulsed her at all. No, it made her _hot_.

Earthland, _this was her best friend._ She wished she could jump out of her own body and grab a stick so she could beat her own head with it. The blonde looked at herself in the mirror on the wall of her bathroom. She was a pretty girl. Guys should be throwing themselves at her! She'd have her pick and wouldn't have to deal with things like _this_.

It wasn't a matter of Natsu being below her spectrum; it was the fact that he didn't exist in _any _spectrum. He didn't have interest in romantics and she wholly respected this fact. On top of this, they'd built a nice niche together. Why was there a horrid prick in her mind that wanted to change this?

Lucy wandered tiredly into the bedroom, only dressed in some casual lingerie. She flung herself onto her soft bed, limbs splaying out as she prodded at her problems once more. Levy would be coming over here soon to prepare for the annual spring festival. It would be nice to get these things off her chest, but even while the solid-script mage had vowed to support the blonde in whatever she was feeling, it was impossible to tell her about this. There were too many people that she wanted to prove wrong and Levy remained one of them. It would be utterly ludicrous to admit anything to her friends, let alone admit it out loud to herself…

But…she remembered Natsu holding her. He was her rock; he kept her grounded and he cared for her like nobody else did. She had held his hand and hers fit together with his so naturally that she was shocked that she'd only noticed it now. He'd nursed her through sickness like it was his job to make her okay and stayed by her while she'd been craving for the one person who could make her feel better. He'd made it so that…perhaps there was now one more.

The summoner closed her eyes, the image of the ceiling fading away. Sweet Edolas, she could practically feel his hot mouth moving down her neck like trails of magma that melted any rational thought away. She unconsciously fingered the possessive mark he'd left on the base of the right side of her neck. The memory triggered the tingling sensation that had shot up and down through her body to repeat itself. It was so thrilling, his touch… It was too easy to want more of his addictive mouth on any part of her, but it was much more difficult to admit that she absolutely _craved_ it. It had been hard to think of anything else all week. Besides, Natsu was pretty damn hot—no pun intended—and that made thinking about him all the more pleasant.

Oh dear Mavis, she was turning into the creepy girl she'd always resented.

A knock on the front door rescued Lucy from the horror of herself. Quickly, she thanked the heavens before getting up to grab a robe. The blonde hurriedly wrapped it around her body and went to greet her guest downstairs. Unsurprisingly, when she opened the door, Levy was standing there with a large bag in tow, ready to have some seriously girly fun.

"Hey! I'm on time, aren't I?" the blunette asked with an unrelenting grin.

The stellar spirit mage managed to smile back, remembering that this was not time to be worrying about her issues with Natsu. "Perfectly."

"Alright then! Let's go to your room. I promise I'll make you look positively _gorgeous_," Levy declared confidently as she stepped through the door. "No guy will be able to withstand your beauty."

Lucy laughed softly, closing the door before following the solid-script mage to her room. She wanted to remain cheerful, honestly, but really, all she could feel was the turmoil churning inside of her.

* * *

True to her word, Levy had made the summoner look absolutely stunning. She was donning a light blue kimono with patterns of periwinkle blossoms and Levy had put her hair up, leaving some of her bangs hanging in the front while a dark blue flower hairpin was stuck through where her hair was tied. This look had her talking to different guys all night! She hadn't been able to enjoy the food yet or even go look for some of her friends. Obviously the town's spring festival wasn't only for her guild, but she'd rather be with someone familiar while she was looking at the night's goodies instead of some guy wanting to get in her pants. Seriously, she had six numbers already and the night wasn't even _close_ to finished. She was flattered, but she really had no intention of calling any of these men in the future.

"…personally prefer okonomiyaki over taiyaki, but everyone's different, don't you think?" the current guy borderline-stalking her asked. She had been, quite frankly, tuning out his disinteresting banter and hadn't a clue of what he'd been babbling on about.

"Hm, yeah, sure," Lucy replied without any real enthusiasm. This man didn't fascinate her at all and she just wanted him to go away.

"I knew you'd think so! That's why…" she heard before she turned her attention elsewhere once again. Her stomach was growling… Perhaps some deep fried squid would do her some good? She'd need energy if she was going to dance later.

Searching for a food booth, rosy hair caught her eye instead. The celestial mage didn't even bother listening to the reasons rapidly firing across her mind as to why calling out to him might be a bad idea. He could _save _her from this nightmare!

"Natsu! Over here!" Lucy shouted over the noise of the crowd as well as the nonsense exiting the trap of her source of misery.

She thanked the heavens for the second time that day when the dragon slayer heard her and made his way over. Giving him a once-over, she immediately decided that his sense of formality was severely skewed. He was wearing his regular outfit besides the fact that his vest was replaced with a nicer, unopened one. It was actually disappointing that she didn't get to see him wearing something pretty.

It was also disappointing that she didn't get to ogle his abs in this time of despair.

_Shit…_ There it was again.

"Hey, Lucy…" the dragon slayer greeted casually before turning his gaze to the pest beside her, eyes narrowing, "…and guy."

"Lucy! You look pretty," Happy, who she'd just noticed near the ground complimented. It was a bit of a relief to see him on her part. This way she wouldn't have the chance to be alone with Natsu and act like a moron because of what she knew.

"Thanks, Happy." She smiled at the feline, inwardly thanking him for more than that statement.

"Indeed, she does look like a flower—one bloomed in the pale moonlight, does she not? When I first laid eyes upon her, I was breathless—speechless…she took away any words I could say as her beauty struck me deep within my soul," the man next to her proclaimed dramatically, offering her a dazzling smile that could turn any girl's knees to jelly.

Lucy nearly failed to repress a look of repulsion in return. She almost felt nauseous by that sickening display of melodrama. A couple of years ago, she might have been utterly floored by such a declaration, but being in Fairy Tail had certainly changed that. This false chivalry was a joke! She wanted real, raw emotion and unmatched passion when it came to a man now. Those were traits that most of the members of her guild had, and now the blonde found that shallow feelings and enticing words were no longer adequate.

_Jeez, if he was actually speechless, why hasn't he shut up for the last half hour?_ She mused, trying very hard not to roll her eyes. Instead, she forced a fake smile and said, "Oh, how…nice of you."

For Natsu, though, subtlety just didn't cut it. "Flowers can't bloom in moonlight; they need sun. Man, you're kind of stupid."

The stellar spirit mage stifled her laughter, but was unable to conceal her amusement by the insult. The guy following her around looked like he got hit by a giant Exceed and his face had stuck. She was certain that his flirtatious comments had never been received quite like _that_ before.

"And the only thing that could penetrate your soul is magic," Happy added. Unfortunately, her stalker was still too shocked by the first comment to even acknowledge the second. Lucy took this as her way out.

"Natsu, Happy, let's go get something to eat!" she suggested urgently, nudging them away while she shuffled her feet.

Miraculously, the guy snapped out of his stupor. "Wait, Luce! I didn't get your number!"

"Don't worry; I'll call _you_," Lucy replied, the smile on her face faltering in anxiety as she began to shove Natsu away faster through the crowd.

"But I didn't give you my number!"

"Oh, no, no, I'm pretty sure you did!"

Once they were a decent distance away from the terror that was the most boring gnat of Earthland, Lucy stopped pushing her partner and let out a sigh of relief. Maybe now that she was away from some of these ridiculous males, she could _finally_ enjoy the festival and perhaps _eat some food_. She was starving!

"Alright, let's finally get some food!" she cheered eagerly.

However, the fire-eater simply stared at her like she had grown a third head.

"What?"

"You _wanted_ to get away from that guy?" he asked in disbelief.

"Well, yeah. He was boring and shallow. What about it?"

"You just… You usually get mad when I make one of those guys run away," Natsu responded doubtfully.

"And you can yell pretty loudly," the cat chimed in.

"Gee, thanks," Lucy drawled humourlessly, then turned to address the fire mage. "Sorry, Natsu. I guess I finally outgrew idiots."

"So you agree that all those past guys were dumb."

"Well… Yeah…"

Thinking back on it, all those guys she'd dated _were_ stupid choices. She'd gone after lookers or guys she thought had things in common with her, but none of those pricks had ever wanted to learn things about _her_. It now appeared that all those dates had been a colossal waste of time. She could've done a lot more missions, gotten loads more experience in battles, and become a more independent person.

Hm…and she was just figuring this out now? That kind of sucked. Oh well. There were more important things at the moment, like…

"Can we _please_ get some food now? I've been here for two hours and all I've had is a butt-load of jerks hitting on me," she whined, her hunger getting the better of her. She never would have cursed beauty until this night.

"Sounds good. What do you want?" Natsu asked, scratching his head, a sign that he'd already resigned any power he had to resist her requests tonight.

"I was thinking deep fried squid," she answered as she glanced around for a sign, but Happy had already taken to the air.

"There's a booth straight ahead and to the—_ooh_, fried fish!"

"_Happy_," she groaned.

"Right, it's straight ahead and to the right—_ooh_, it's Charle and Wendy! Gotta go!"

_There goes my chaperone_, Lucy sighed mentally. She stared forlornly at the pair of wings that flew further and further away from where she stood. Somehow, she always seemed to end up alone with her partner—this time, the situation being radically different from all the ones before. She was painfully aware of the blush already staining her cheeks as her mind fluttered inevitably to that day and her eyes to his lips.

"I think I see it," the dragon slayer announced with a nod, his voice violently wrenching her back to reality. "Come on."

She nodded, blinking at his calmness regarding food. Natsu was a _pig_. Why didn't he seem more eager to go eat? "Hey, aren't you excited to try some of the food?" she inquired while she kept closely behind him.

"Not really hungry," was his surreal response. "Gray and I had an eating contest during the first hours of the festival, so I'm pretty stuffed." Natsu paused for a moment, pushing passed an overweight man and a group of rough-looking guys before grinning. "I think I could eat more if they have flaming squid though."

Lucy found herself grinning as well. He was so incredibly predictable. The thing that _did_ surprise her was that his clothes were still clean, meaning his and Gray's pig-out session hadn't been completely out of control. Besides, that kind of thing was gross—yet another turn off.

Really, she was going to end up weighting the pros and cons of this mess someday…

At the very least, she took some consolation from the squid she was munching on a few minutes later. It took a lot of will power not to inhale the entire portion like _some_ people did. That control gave her satisfaction and had her laughing at his displeasure while he pouted because no flaming squid had been available.

They walked around the different booths for a while, Lucy picking up food and Natsu frowning at the lack of fire-foods in turn. Somehow, it didn't _feel_ different or wrong. It felt natural; certainly more natural than she expected after their awkward encounter. Granted, they'd seen each other since then, but she had been the only one to actually _know_ what had gone down that day and it fell upon her to act normal so that _he_ would be normal. _She_ felt natural today. _She_ felt normal.

"Lucy! Hey!"

The summoner felt her stomach plummet to her feet as soon as that horrid voice reached her ears. Great; she'd gotten rid of one boring nut only to free herself for fifteen minutes before being slammed by another. She figured she could have been the protagonist of a good horror story with the way her night was turning out.

Alas, Lucy had a hard time being rude to people she didn't know very well, so she plastered yet another false smile on her face as he approached. What was _this_ creep's name? Shikon? Shoujo? "Ah, hey, Shouji…"

"_Shinji_," he corrected her quickly, brushing a hand through his spiky, black hair. "Yeah, where'd you go? I thought you and I were gunna catch a goldfish together."

Oh, she was sure he _did_ think that. "No, _Shinji,_ I said I was going to meet a friend and that I'd call you." …Not that either statement had been true, but she didn't really see the harm in keeping that fact from him.

"Really? I don't remember, babe. Why don't we go now?"

He was handsome, definitely, but Lucy had never had a stronger urge to smack a guy so hard that his nose bled. "I don't think so," she replied firmly, moving away as he advanced. How she wished she had her whip right now…

"Come on, Luce—"

"She said 'no'," Natsu growled out of nowhere, stepping in front of her protectively. Lucy gaped in awe as she saw the ferocity that was burning in his eyes. His voice had all the conviction "Shinji" needed, but he really didn't look like he was joking around either.

She could see how tense he was, muscles rippling as he clenched his fists. The glare he was giving could have burned holes through Gajeel's head and then some. The way he was trembling made her feel incredibly nervous.

There was something different about him. Yes, he normally would get riled up so easily, but it was something else. That glint in his eyes was almost feral, like he could pounce on the man standing in front of him and smash him into a bloody piece of meat. They were open books. They were telling anyone who bothered to look, "_Touch her and __**die**_."

Natsu was _damn_ serious. He was going to _end_ this guy.

Deciding that "death" was not one of the things she wanted to deal with tonight, Lucy gently grabbed onto his forearm, hoping it would have some effect. "Natsu…"

Her efforts were rewarded when she felt his muscles relax and the shaking that had taken over his body ceased. Relief flooded over her when that dangerous look faded away. She could see him struggling to make sense of what had come over him, so instead she looked at Shinji.

"You should go," the celestial mage advised the persistent loser, grasping her partner's arm a little more tightly.

Shinji only nodded in silence, apparently scared out of his wits. She didn't blame him. If Natsu were anyone else, she'd probably be searching for a hole to huddle in right now. He normally didn't look like that unless someone had threatened a guild mate (she honestly didn't think this qualified) or the guild itself. Obviously there had been some stubbornness, but she hadn't been in any real danger. Lucy had the capability of protecting herself, if it came to that. She still had her keys.

The creeper disappeared as quickly as he'd come and her best friend had visibly calmed down. He looked embarrassed by his actions and suddenly Lucy felt like there were too many people around. She didn't want his vulnerability to be displayed to the world. This momentary lapse was only his business.

"I think I've had enough for one night," the key-user told him, carefully leading him toward the exit. "Walk me home?"

The surprise was evident in his face, but he complied with a hasty nod. The blonde was glad to get out of there anyway. She had taken into consideration the attraction she'd been worrying about all afternoon too and decided that Natsu needed her right now. She wondered if it was a dragon slayer thing or just something that had pushed his darker emotions to the surface. Either way, she was going to help him through it.

The walk back to her house was painfully quiet. Lucy definitely wanted to ask after what had triggered such an intense response, but she knew better than to push him when it came to things like this. Natsu was far more fragile than he let on about certain things and she was one of the very few who had ever seen the broken side of him.

"Lucy, I'm sorry," he finally spoke as they walked alongside the canal.

She dully note that they'd been apologizing to each other _way_ too much lately as she pondered as to whether he was actually ready to talk about it or not. The celestial mage took her chances. "Why'd you do that, Natsu? You know I can deal with guys on my own," she replied, trying to keep the questioning light. She hopped up onto the ledge and took small steps in her sandals.

"Yeah, I just… I didn't like how he talked to you," Natsu admitted, eyes down and fists clenched again. "He was talking to you…like he owned you."

Lucy's mind reeled abruptly. "_You belong to me._" The words echoed in her mind when her sandal scraped the ledge at an odd angle and she felt the world tilting. Those rowers had always told her to be careful—and she had been until now. She supposed her falling would have come eventually. Why not now when those crazy words were swirling in her head?

She felt his arms stabilize her from the side and she toppled into him in a loss of all balance. He stood firm, unaffected by her weight as she assessed the current situation.

Natsu had saved her _again_. Of course, he always saved her and no matter what the situation was, she always felt safe when he was around. Even when all hope was lost, if Natsu was there, it was okay. Right now, she was in her sanctuary.

"S-sorry," she apologized, steadying herself in his grip. Another apology, she thought briefly in annoyance, though this one was legitimate. The blonde knew she couldn't just keep _swooning_ about how good and protected she felt. She summoned the courage to question his dragon side instead. "Do you…think I should belong to someone, Natsu?"

His eyes flashed dangerously, but only for a moment. "You can only belong to someone if you want to be claimed," the fire mage's strained response came.

"So…you don't think I'm anybody's 'girl'," she concluded for him, carefully examining his expression.

Still strained, he shook his head before asking a little more quietly, "Do you want it though?"

Lucy blinked. "Want what?"

"To be claimed."

"_You belong to me."_ It flickered through her mind again. The words had come out in such a husky and possessive voice that she could hardly convince herself otherwise. Every time she heard it in her mind, it felt like it was true. It _felt_ like she was Natsu's, and during those times, she was _glad_.

"I don't know," was her final answer, but her shaky voice left her uncertainty of even _that_ response easily questionable.

"Just be careful," Natsu warned her seriously, giving her a stern look.

Distracted by her own thoughts, she couldn't possibly comprehend what he was thinking when he randomly said, "Now, come on. Dance with me."

"What?" Lucy spluttered in utter confusion, pulling away slightly to look at him incredulously.

"Just do it," he commanded gruffly, sweeping her waist into his arms.

Unwilling to argue, she raised her arms, entwining her fingers behind his neck as she leaned against his comfortable chest. "There's no music," Lucy pointed out feebly, feeling awkward.

"The sound of the water's our music," he murmured. "I ruined your night. You're missing out on all the dancing, so let me make it right."

She smiled at his words. Not in a million years would she have suspected that she'd one day dance with Natsu. It wasn't perfect, of course; there wasn't much movement in his feet and he was clearly missing any rhythm the water offered, but it was everything. He'd been thinking of her, like always, and he was doing something he would never do under regular circumstances. He was doing it for _her_.

For the first time ever, the thought that Natsu might _actually like_ _her_ crossed her mind. She was doubtful, knowing of how oblivious he was to the opposite sex, but it would make everything that happened in the last few months so much clearer. Lucy had no real proof of anything though; all she knew was that he had never cared this deeply for her until now.

Her right hand trailed from his neck to gently graze the side of his chin. Their eyes met and suddenly, she didn't want to think about any of that anymore. She wanted to take away his worries and make him feel as good as she was feeling right now.

A smile tugged at her lips as she softly reassured him, "I'm not missing out on anything."

The smile she received in return completed the moment as they swayed under the dim streetlights.

Maybe…maybe this night wasn't so bad after all.


	11. Close Contact

**Author's Note: **We're back, baby! It's been a while, so I shall not bore you with my life story. I'm incredibly grateful for how understanding you've all been about my slow updating habits. Thank you all for such wonderful feedback!

I'm planning a one-shot interlude for this story that will be about Natsu carrying out his side of the bargain for losing in chapter 7. It, however, will be Gray x Juvia (Gruvia?) with a touch of NaLu and will mostly be for comic relief. If anyone's interested in reading that, I hope to get it on the site before New Years, but no guarantees.

**Special shout out to _Panda _and _Lucia_ because you're both awesome. Special shout out to _Litashe_ for all the love she's given us! :)**

Please enjoy!

* * *

_**Possession**_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 11 – _Close Contact_**

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me," Lucy fumed at the hotel secretary while the male dragon slayer watched in amusement. "I could pay half my monthly rent with the amount you're charging for _one measly room!_"

"I assure you, Heartphilia-san, that our rooms are the best in the town," the other woman pushed desperately.

"Yeah, 'best' since this _is_ the only hotel in this stupid town!"

"That may be true, but—"

"But what? You expect us to use nearly a quarter of the jewels we made saving _your_ town from a bunch of thieves on a tiny room for one person?"

"Well, you could pay for two—"

"And let you suck more cash out of our pockets? I don't think so!"

Natsu decided that Lucy was sexy when she was fighting for what she believed in. Obviously he didn't want to be a creep, but it was almost impossible to not find your soul mate incredibly attractive—especially when she was flushed with anger in a battle of wits, a glint of pure determination in her eyes. She was always beautiful. Her anger gave a different sort of appeal.

"Natsu, you're staring," Happy notified him, knowing full-well of the situation the rose-haired mage was in.

"I can't help it…" he conceded, and it was the truth. The celestial spirit mage was only getting more and more difficult to _not_ look at. His feelings for her wouldn't stop growing. He rarely found anybody, let alone _anything_, else on his mind. Thinking about her was normal for him now. He could look at practically anything and somehow relate it to her. His body no longer took orders from him when it came to her. It had been a long road, but he had finally come to terms with it. This feeling wasn't about to go away any time soon.

Besides, being able to humour himself was far more appealing than being pessimistic about this whole thing. There was nothing wrong with _admiring_ her, right? Lucy no longer seemed so tense around him since the spring festival either, so that at least was a plus. He must have done _something_ right, even if he'd only been doing what he felt was.

The only problem was that his dragon instincts were kicking in frequently now. He wasn't sure to what extent his possessiveness had gone yet, simply due to the fact (and sadly, also his relief) that the summoner hadn't been going out with random guys recently. If she had been, Natsu had no doubt that he might've killed somebody already. He'd barely been able to hold himself back from smashing guys in the face who'd been staring at her so-called "assets".

Gajeel had told him it was a natural response. "You haven't properly claimed her, so you'll always want to crush those who are after your woman."

"And you've claimed Levy?" Natsu had asked, never seeing the blunette's two partners getting squashed under the iron dragon slayer's hand.

"Soon enough I will, but right now, she knows exactly where I stand," he'd replied gruffly before he grinned, smacking a fist into his open palm. "I gotta say though, it felt pretty damn good bashing a few heads in. Little bastards…"

Natsu agreed mentally that it would probably feel quite good, but he also knew where Gajeel stood with Levy and why he hadn't yet claimed her. She was obviously willing, even if she was only nineteen, but Gajeel was a very reserved person and it was equally as clear that he wasn't ready to open up to her quite yet. Juvia was the only person he could comfortably speak candidly with and nobody ever knew what they said to each other.

Frankly, the fire-eater didn't really think it was his business anyway. He was more concerned with his own problem at the moment. Gajeel knew where he stood with Levy and that was really all Natsu wanted too. He knew he was pretty dense, but the dragon slayer was certain that Lucy was sending him signals all over the place.

Sometimes his touch seemed like static for her and she would jump away in terror. Other times, she would grab onto his hand, whether it be for reassurance or for no reason at all. He always did his best to respond accordingly, squeezing her hand if she needed support or leaving his fingers limp when she grabbed onto him just because. Either way, it was always a battle to keep control, though so far, he had been quite good in overcoming actions that desperately wanted to surface. He had himself _trained_ after the disaster on Creation Day.

"_YOU'D BETTER HAVE SOME DAMN GOOD BREAKFAST SERVICE!_" Lucy screamed back at the woman, flailing her arms in frustration with a key in her hand as she stormed toward the staircase. "This better be the nicest room I've ever seen…"

Natsu followed her quietly, unwilling to attempt to calm the furious woman. She might hurt him. Yes, it was highly probable.

Her anger lasted through the entire way to the room and neither he nor Happy said a word. The line between silent rage and murderous intention was very thin, and nobody wanted to push Lucy across that threshold. He even refrained from saying a thing when she shoved the key into the lock and nearly broke the door after flinging it open with no regard to her strength. He'd _really_ wanted to ask her why she even bothered to use the key.

"I guess it's decent," the violent mage muttered, tossing the key on the table as she stepped into the "decent" room. Natsu actually thought it was a lot better than most of the hotel rooms they'd stayed in during their missions, but it was most certainly not worth the cash they'd paid for it.

Sadly, for all its space, there was only one bed. This automatically meant that Lucy got the bed because she _was_ a girl, and Igneel had not failed to give him a lesson or two in chivalry. He sighed; couch for him again—another one that was way too small.

However, the spirit mage shocked him by holding out a Fairy Tail coin in the palm of her hand to him in offering. "Flip for the bed?"

The dragon slayer simply stared at her for a moment. Normally she'd take the bed and run with it enthusiastically, but for some reason, she seemed eager for him to have an equal chance at it. Of course, she was eying the couch and was obviously thinking the same thing as him: he was going to be insanely uncomfortable on that tiny piece of furniture.

He shook his head at her offering. "Nah, you take it." _Because I'd rather you get a least a little happiness today._ And it was true. The blonde had gotten into a huge argument with Aquarius (unsurprisingly), one of the thieves had groped her boob—on _purpose—_and her whip had been sliced in half by one of the rogue's knives. On top of that, there was now this rich hotel, greedily sucking the jewels from them since it was the only hotel in this poor town. Dark guilds weren't the only groups filled with assholes. It was no wonder that Lucy had blown a gasket in confronting the woman in the lobby.

"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly, her arm dropping back to her side in uncertainty.

The fire mage gave one last nod to assure her that that was what he wanted. Besides, being in a bed in a room with _her_ inside would only give him dirty thoughts, and he hardly needed any more of _those_.

"Then thanks, I guess," Lucy said softly. There was a shy hint to her voice, which usually didn't exist, but her red face sent a chill down his spine. Damn. Cute. "I think I'll take a shower before I got to sleep then."

She gathered a few articles of clothing before disappearing into the bathroom. Natsu didn't relax until he heard the shower start. He wondered…was this what it was like to be in love? It was really weird if that indeed was the driving force behind his actions. He was giving up on things that he wanted just to see her smile. The one thing he _did _know was that if Lisanna or Erza were here instead of Lucy, the dragon slayer would _never_ have surrendered that bed so easily.

Then again, being around Lucy was making him do all sorts of weird things. He wasn't even sure he had maintained his sanity thus far.

"Aren't you ever going to tell her?" Happy asked in concern, climbing onto the couch with minor difficulty.

Natsu slammed down beside his Exceed and crossed his arms. "I can't just _tell_ her that she's my mate. She hasn't even agreed to anything, and I haven't claimed her. I can't say anything."

"She's not just your mate, Natsu," the cat started. "You know that it's more than that."

And he did. His initial attraction to her had been just that: an attraction. However, that was what had helped him see past the friendship they had. That was what forced him to see that he wanted more than just friendship. Now, he wanted her all to himself. Lucy was so beautiful, but he hadn't seen that before because he hadn't _cared_. He _still_ didn't care that she was beautiful, but _she_ _did_, so he wanted to be the one to tell her that she was. She was so strong—nearly as stubborn as him and possibly even more determined. She was one of the greatest friends he'd ever made, always there when you needed her and doing anything she could to help.

There was so much more he could see in her now that he'd never truly appreciated before. Natsu _did_ want her to be his, but not just because she was supposed to be his mate. He understood now why Lucy had those ridiculous rituals of going out with those guys to see if she liked them or not. She wanted _this_ feeling; the one that made you want so much that it almost hurt, but was, at the same time, so good that it felt like he'd just eaten a piece of Etherion.

"I can't tell her that," the dragon slayer pushed more firmed. "It—it could mess up everything, and I can't tell what she's thinking. Sometimes she reacts like it's poison when I touch her, and sometimes…"

"She can be receptive?" Happy finished with question. "Charle is like that too. She doesn't like being together in public."

"I haven't touched her in public…" Natsu mumbled quietly. He hardly wanted anybody to be seeing _anything_ intimate he was doing with _anyone_. It felt a little like a secret between he and Lucy that they had even _been_ in those situations together. It was an unspoken pact that neither of them would tell any other about those heartfelt moments they shared together. The trust they held in each other was hard to find anywhere. He wasn't about it go against it.

"That's weird," his furry companion stated in confusion, his brow furrowing in thought.

"I wish I knew what she was thinking. Girls are weird," the rose-haired male sighed in defeat. Girls _were_ weird. He _always _knew what Gray or Gajeel was thinking about.

Happy nodded solemnly, patting the dragon slayer's arm consolingly. Natsu knew there was nothing else his Exceed could help him with as the cat flew over to the single chair and curled up to go to sleep, leaving him alone with his thoughts. The fire-eater looked towards the door of the bathroom where he could hear the shower still running and smell the mild scent of soap drifting through the cracks of the door. It was impossible to stop thinking about her when she was so close to him and yet so unattainable.

He wondered if Lucy would ever consider being with him. If she knew about how he felt, what would she do? The celestial spirit mage could avoid him, something she had proven to be rather adept at, so it wouldn't be hard to do. She might even _laugh_, thinking that his confession was a joke. She already thought that he was incapable of feeling this way about a woman.

Could she be serious about him though? Could she ever go crazy about what she would wear when she met him for a date? Could she want him to stay the night at her house doing whatever they wanted? Could she want to exclusively hold _his_ hand and have _his_ lips? Could she ever feel this much for him?

Natsu reminded himself that anything was a possibility, but everything was just so confusing. Sometimes the blonde really _did_ seem like she wanted what he wanted, but other times, she would brush him off as quickly as she could. He ended up going in circles trying to figure out what she was thinking. This girl was the biggest mystery he'd ever been faced with.

The bathroom door clicked open and a refreshed-looking Lucy sauntered into the room clad in a light blue tank and shorts, her hair loosely done up in pigtails. She hopped onto the bed with a book and settled into the covers, her back against the headboard.

"You can shower now if you want," she told him as she opened her novel to the bookmarked page. Natsu found it to be a relief that her mood had visibly lifted.

"Yeah, thanks," the dragon slayer replied, secretly eying her as she intently read. She looked so concentrated when she was reading, with her mouth slightly open and eyes darting back and forth, occasionally furrowing her brow. It was adorable…

Adorable. Ugh.

He picked up his night-shorts from his bag before entering the washroom. Oh Edolas, her scent was touching every corner of that small room. Lucy was haunting him everywhere he went!

The fire mage then gazed into the shower, his eyes landing on the partially used bar of soap that sat on the allocated ledge. Lucy had used that bar of soap. _Naked_ Lucy had used that bar of soap on her body. Naked Lucy's skin had been cleaned by that slippery little rectangle. _Naked _Lucy. _LUCY. NAKED._

He threw the fancy curtain hanging in front of the shower closed before his nose could explode in blood. Natsu had to stop thinking about his partner's bare body—or about how he would be using the same bar of soap to cleanse himself as she did—or how she had run the soap along her tender skin—

Damn it. Too late.

Natsu's shower ended up being ice cold, his focus on keeping his body temperature low. If he was going to be sleeping in the same room as Lucy tonight, he had to keep those perverted thoughts to a minimum. Life had really gotten a lot more difficult in the last seven months. It all came down to control, which, he found he often lost completely in the presence of his best friend, regardless of whatever training he prided himself on. Indeed, life was hard…

After he'd dried himself as well as brushed his teeth, he opened the door to find the bedroom completely dark. The shower had taken longer than expected, apparently, and Lucy had gotten tired and gone to sleep already. Quietly, he formed a small flame around his left hand and snuck over to his bag. It was enough to see where he was going and allow him to stuff his day outfit into the backpack. The dragon slayer then headed over to the couch when he was stopped by a small voice.

"Natsu…?"

"Yeah," he responded not too loudly.

There was a short pause before Lucy spoke again. "Can you come here?

He glanced over at her though he couldn't see her very well. The light was enough to reveal her form, lying on her side and her face away from him, despite her speaking to him. She shifted only slightly in her spot, snuggling more deeply into the bed's sheets. The dragon slayer didn't move from his place, unsure of what to do at this request.

"Natsu? Please?" her small voice asked him again.

Well, he couldn't say "no", so the rose-haired mage dispersed his flames before pulling on a t-shirt. Reluctantly, he moved to the side of the bed to see what she wanted. Natsu fervently hoped that she wasn't sad or emotionally distraught in some way. He could _stand_ when that happened.

"What is it?" the fire-eater asked her quietly so as to not wake Happy. The only light source was the moonlight now, and he could see the reflection of the soft light in her brown eyes as she looked at him through the darkness.

He was taken aback when her hand was suddenly tugging on his. His mouth fell open to say…_something_, but nothing came out. He could feel her slender fingers locking between his as she sat up and peeked down at the comforter instead.

"I'm… I'm cold," Lucy offered him almost shyly.

His mind flew into overdrive as he followed her lead. The spirit mage seemed to scoot over in the bed a bit more, pulling him gently onto the bed along with her. How could this possibly be happening? The dragon slayer had only just managed to regain control after that shower and now his efforts were utterly shattered. He was in the same bed as the girl he wanted! There was no way for him to combat those desires!

"Keep me warm, okay?" she told him rhetorically. The summoner boldly wrapped her arms around his upper torso and leaned her head on his chest as a pillow, pressing on him to lie fully back on the bed.

"O…kay…?" he croaked lightly, letting her manipulate his movements. Why was she doing this to him? Couldn't she feel how fast his heart was being because of how she was clinging onto him? Why did she need to? She didn't even feel cold, he noted, as his arms wrapped loosely around her shoulders.

Wait a second…! That was it! The blonde was getting him to sleep next to her because she knew the couch was too small for him. Her statement about being cold was a rather blatant lie. It all made sense if she was simply being kind by sharing this bed with him—not that he was complaining. Of course, it scared the _crap_ out of him, being this close to her. Natsu was being hugged by her _in a bed!_ How could he not be terrified of suddenly losing his mind and dragon-humping her brains out?

Dear Mavis, all those dirty thoughts were finally getting to him.

But no, he couldn't stay in this bed if it was out of kindness that it was offered to him. The dragon slayer didn't want her to feel she needed to do that for him. She didn't have to offer to sleep next to (or halfway on top of) somebody she didn't keep in her heart.

"Are you…are you really cold, Luce?" He asked, already knowing the answer, but he wanted to coax the truth out of her.

She gave in pretty easily. "No," Lucy responded honestly, not moving from her place, "I just wanted you to be comfortable. I know you'd never fit on that tiny couch."

"I can sleep there," the rose-haired male protested firmly. He didn't move yet, waiting to hear what she'd say to that.

"Natsu…" she began, her head tilting up to look at him in the moonlight. His face immediately flushed red at the precious look she was giving him. "Why is your heart beating so fast?

It was certainly not helpful that his heart began to beat even faster at this question that had caught him fully off-guard. So she…she _had_ noticed after all. What was he supposed to say now? "Well, that's because I've been in love with you for months"? How could he possibly tell her the truth when everything between them could break down because of it? He'd already put their friendship through enough since figuring out all of this!

"I—uh—" he spluttered, dumbfounded before he felt her lips interrupt any thought process building in his mind.

Her mouth moved gently against his and he responded after only a second, pulling her against him more tightly on instinct. He could feel her hand stroking his cheek as her lips parted, pushing against the fire mage roughly to deepen their kiss. His tongue rushed out to meet hers, the heat between them growing with every second. The fire coursing through his body was so thrilling that all else was forgotten. Nothing else could matter when what he wanted the most was currently in his possession.

But he was losing control again. It barely registered through the haze of bliss and desire clouding his thoughts. His kisses grew more frantic and his hands began to wander, his right one somehow now underneath her shirt, exploring the graceful curve of her back and getting dangerously close to the hook of her bra. He knew he had to stop before he did anything worse, even if this might be the closest he'd ever get to having Lucy for his own.

"W-wait, Lucy! This—I can't…" Natsu spoke frantically as he pulled away, out of breath from the previous exchange and unable to form a coherent sentence. He held her shoulders cautiously as he attempted to calm himself.

She had the decency to blush, wiping her lips in embarrassment as she moved out of his grasp. "I'm not wrong…" she whispered with conviction, sitting up to fix her shirt that had ridden up because of Natsu's wandering hands.

"W-what?" He sat up too, staring at her in confusion.

"That's why you've been acting so weird. I know now. I know…because your heart was beating so fast," she told him, talking to both herself _and_ him. "Now I just need to hear it from you."

The dragon slayer shrunk under her scrutiny. What did she know? Did she know how he felt or did she think something else? He couldn't say it. It was too risky—too dangerous. There was no way that she could accept his feelings. There was no way…

Awkward seconds ticked by before Lucy finally sighed and shook her head. "Fine. Good night, Natsu."

With that, she lay back down, facing away from him as she pulled the comforter over her body. Natsu stared at her form for a second, then followed suit. What in Earthland had just happened? He tried to think it through, but his mind was in chaos as he stared out the window into the quiet night.

The dragon slayer had an inkling that tonight, he wouldn't be sleeping at all.


	12. Upside Down

**Author's Note: **Greetings, all! I think after the last chapter, a lot of you realized just what I meant by "eventual romance". :) Thank you, once again, for being such wonderful readers. I tried to reply to everyone who reviewed (I _do_ value each and every one of you) before I got busy again, so if I didn't send you a reply, sorry! I just ran out of time!

By the way, that Gray x Juvia one-shot has turned into a story, and if you like that pairing and _Possession_, I'm sure you'll like what I have. The first chapter will be uploaded along with chapter 13 of _Possession_.

**To those who asked me to update:** If you PM me asking me to update, you are wasting your time. I'm certainly not mad about it, but rather flattered. The thing is, I'm a university science student and free time isn't the easiest thing to come by. Also, you were warned in the first chapter that I am a slow updater. I also write one chapter ahead in order to keep the story going the way I want it to (yes, this means chapter 13 is finished and you will have to wait until I'm done chapter 14 to get it). I _will_ update when I can. I'm not withholding chapters in order to make you suffer, promise. I'm happy you like my story so much though.

Well, this chapter definitely isn't one of my favourites, but it needed to be written. This is the calm before the storm! I hope you at least like a ending a bit. I thought it was nice. :P

Please, enjoy!

* * *

**_Possession_** by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 12 – _Upside Down_**

* * *

It was a beautiful morning. The skies were blue, birds were singing, and there wasn't a dark guild in sight. The sun was up in the sky, shining brightly as if offering their world its comforting rays. Anybody would be smiling at this gorgeous sight. Everybody who had woken up to this breathtaking day couldn't help but feel the cheer of that wonderful morning.

Except one.

Lucy Heartphilia was not particularly happy when the sun's beams hit her eyes. She cursed and groaned, rolling over to smash her face into the pillow so that she could sleep more. The celestial spirit mage hardly wanted to get up. After all, she'd never been a morning person. As such, she pulled the covers further over herself in an effort to get back into a snugly position when she felt something shift on the other side of the bed.

Her eyes shot open and she rapidly turned back toward the window, toward the left side of the bed. Who else could be sleeping there but her dear partner and pyromaniac, Natsu?

The previous night's events came crashing back to her like a swift kick to the head. What had happened last night was almost surreal. Heck, Lucy would have just thought it all a dream were it not for the rose-haired male that lay next to her. It had been a discovery. It had been _another_ make-out session. Sweet Earthland, she was really lacking self-control.

The blonde wasn't quite ready to face the day—_or _ Natsu—so she decided against getting up and settled for lying on her back to stare at the ceiling as she thought about this whole thing. Despite not recalling these events until a moment following her awakening, she could feel how the incident had cut into her sleep. Not only was she unreasonably crabby, but her eyes were tired and her brain was already exhausted, and it was only morning! Still, she certainly wouldn't be able to go back to sleep anymore. She just had to face it: this was a freakin' big deal.

Natsu liked her. No, he didn't like her as just a friend; he _liked_ her. Lucy was sure of it. Things all added up. He'd begun to get so concerned over her being injured. He'd been disappointed in her for being stupid and making him worry. He was so _careful_ now when it came to her. He liked the way she smelled. He'd nearly killed a man for attempting to assert dominance over her. And, most importantly, he'd kissed her back—and not while under the influence of crazy dragon-induced hormones.

Of course, there were a couple of things bothering her. _Big_ things. Things that made her wholly doubt what she thought she now knew. Every part of her gut was telling her that she was right, but how _could_ she be right when there was a giant contradiction staring at her in the face?

Months ago, Lucy had found out that she had been deemed "Natsu's girl" in the eyes of all those in her guild. Nobody had outright said it, but there had been a strong implication that Natsu had feelings for her, so she tested it. She put her hand into his, looked for some sort of reaction, and got nothing. The dragon slayer hadn't moved at all, just like she'd instructed him.

The key-user realized that any guy could act; males always put up walls and put on a show to protect themselves from feeling vulnerable, but this was a different case. If she were to believe Gajeel's words, _Natsu should have done something_. It was impossible to have such intense, deep feelings for someone and do nothing about it when an opportunity presented itself. Lucy just couldn't believe anyone could withstand that. If you were given a chance at the one you loved, you took it and ran. That event was hardly the case here.

Besides, according to the iron dragon slayer, their kind could only ever love one person. If she took that day into consideration along with this point, all that she had determined last night was rendered complete and utter crap. If Natsu hadn't felt anything for her that day, he never would.

So where did that leave her? The blonde mage had definitely not been the only one participated in such…hot activity. In fact, she distinctly remembered Natsu's hands getting a little curious. Holy Mavis, it had been the most electrifying sensation she'd ever received from being touched by a boy in that kind of situation. Every hair on her back had shot up like lightening across her skin. It was the hottest thing she'd ever experienced. _Forget _kisses; that touch had blown every sexual moment she'd had with a guy out of the damn water. A _touch_. She shivered unconsciously at the thought. If he had continued his task, Lucy had no idea what would have happened to her. What she _did_ know was that she definitely wouldn't have stopped it.

The spirit mage suddenly felt extremely lost in her emotions. Here she was trying to dissect Natsu's feelings when she didn't even understand her own. If her partner indeed wanted her romantically, did she want to reciprocate? Did she want _Natsu?_

The question rang clear in her mind while also succeeding in giving her a severe panic attack. This was _not_ supposed to be happening. Things were never supposed to have become so complicated between them. Unbreakable friendship had always been their link, not a mutual love connection. How could she even be considering something like this?

One thing for certain was clear: she cared whether Natsu liked her or not. It wasn't because she feared it might jeopardize their current relationship (though she was also afraid of that) or because she was so big-headed that she believed no man could resist her; it was that Lucy actually _wanted_ him to like her. The key-user couldn't deny that the idea of being claimed by him excited her greatly instead of repulsing her (like it should have). She had been infuriated and indignant at the thought of being "Natsu's girl" months ago, but now, it was simply flattering. How could it not be when he would do anything to protect her, stand by her in sickness, and lift her up when she was sad…?

And then she felt stupid.

All this time, she'd been searching for this perfect guy who was hot, intelligent, and similar to her in several aspects, but in the end, there were only three qualities she really needed him to have: strength, loyalty, and understanding. These words…weren't they Natsu in a nutshell?

He was always strong, regardless of who or what he was facing. He was the pillar of hope that everyone looked to when things were falling apart. He would go to the ends of Earthland and Edolas _and_ back for their guild—for _her_. He would never betray a friend or turn his back on somebody in need. He would try his best to understand everyone, even if he didn't get it at all. He would ask you about your problems to see if he could help, but he would never pry.

The perfect man she was looking for had been right in front of her this entire time, and he was a violent, scarf-wearing, rose-haired pyromaniac. That was _not_ what she'd been expecting. Not even a little.

This revelation sunk in slowly, but the magnitude of it all was terrifying. Lucy didn't know what else to do besides freak out, so she did, leaping out of the bed in horror and rushing to the bathroom, heart racing. She slammed the door shut and locked it before sinking to the floor and covering her head in her arms.

Holy. Freaking. Crap.

* * *

Lucy simply couldn't accept what she'd discovered. She had sat in the bathroom until Happy had eventually knocked on the door to see if she was okay. She'd told him she was and that she just wanted to be alone for a bit. She couldn't face Natsu between her actions last night and her revelation this morning. Just thinking about it sent her blood pounding and her mind caught in a dizzy mess. It was fortunate that the cat then informed her that they would go eat breakfast first so she could have some time to herself. Natsu hadn't said anything through the door except a "see you later", and it had sounded forced and incredibly awkward. It left her feeling both guilty and frustrated.

The empty room offered little consolation. The reminders of the dragon slayer were everywhere, and he was the last things she wanted to think about, seeing as how he'd been on her mind endlessly regardless. The blonde tried her hardest to avoid looking at his pack…or his jacket flung over the chair in the corner…or the side of the bed he'd been sleeping on. She couldn't escape him no matter what she did.

The young mage changed out of her pyjamas slowly, using the time of privacy wisely. Last night, she had been so confident in herself, so certain that she was right about everything, but she'd woken up with a clear mind and realized that she could've been _extremely_ wrong, and even if she were right, she wouldn't know what to do with Natsu's feelings because she liked him—or she didn't like him—or they were best friends and none of this made any damn sense. He was her perfect guy and it _was not_ supposed to turn out that was. So he was what she wanted, but he was also what she didn't want. What did she even want again?

Fragments for thoughts were flying everywhere and Lucy could scarcely put together anything that was actually coherent. She couldn't think. Everything was just so _big_.

Instead, she left the room, making sure to take the long way to the breakfast area so as to not run into her mission companions. Cautiously, she made her way over to the eating area to find that Natsu and Happy were gone, meaning they'd gone back to the room. Lucy allowed herself a sigh of relief as she went to gather some food before finding a small table to sit down at. There weren't too many people eating there; only an elderly couple and group of female friends. Her surroundings finally let her relax a little, knowing her guildies would wait in the room until she returned from breakfast.

"Excuse me, may I sit with you?"

Lucy stopped mid-chew of a peach slice to see who was asking. It was a young man with black hair and thick-rimmed glasses. His inquiry told Lucy that she was well-mannered and his dress shirt and pants conveyed that he was a sophisticated man. Heck, with that combination of things, he was pretty sexy. This was the kind of guy she'd been waiting for her entire life! She finished her fruit slice quickly before saying, "Sure, have a seat."

"Thanks," he said, sitting down. "I'm Ryuuki. Apologies for the intrusion, but I noticed those celestial keys of on your belt. Are you a spirit mage?"

The blonde nodded, giving him a smile. "Yes. I'm Lucy. Are you interested in celestial spirits?" She honestly couldn't believe that this man was so civil and intuitive. Spirit mages were quite rare and many people never noticed that she was one. Lucy was rather impressed.

"I am, considering that I'm working on a book about the spirit dimension," Ryuuki told her earnestly. "I'm lucky to be meeting such an accomplished mage. You're Lucy of Fairy Tail, aren't you?"

She saw him eyeing her stamped hand and understood how he had deduced such a thing. Was this guy for real? Smart, handsome, polite, _and_ a writer? He had to be her soul mate or something.

They chattered on for a bit about spirits and the spirit world until they both finished eating. This sexy writer was an interesting man on top of it all! How ironic that a disastrous morning could lead to a miracle of an event like this. _This_ was a man she could marry!

"So, Lucy, how about we go out sometime when we're both back in Magnolia? I'll be in this town for another couple of days, but I'll certainly be back next week. We can exchange numbers and I'll give you a call when I return," he suggested eagerly before the two parted ways.

"I can't."

The words were out of her mouth before she had even thought about it. Ryuuki looked at her, a little shocked, but he definitely couldn't be as stunned as Lucy was by herself. The celestial spirit mage tried to keep a straight face as her mind suddenly clarified everything within a matter of seconds.

This man was the type of person she'd wanted to marry her entire life. He was most certainly the ideal guy she had built in her mind. He was the man that ended her search.

But he wasn't _him_. He wasn't the man that could make her feel things that nobody else could. He wasn't the one she trusted with her life or the one who supported her through thick and thin. He wasn't the one she could comfortably look like crap around or the one she didn't have to hide her true self from.

He wasn't Natsu, and that was why she couldn't.

"I'm sorry," she told him softly, "there's already someone in my life."

Ryuuki flashed her a smile instead of walking off in dejection. "Well then, it looks like I'll have my work cut out for me if I want to win your heart," the novelist declared smoothly. "I doubt this is the last time we'll see each other, so I'll see you soon."

With the wave of his hand, the man walked off suavely. Any girl would have absolutely _swooned_ in receiving that action from a guy with so much charisma, but Lucy was immune. She hadn't realized it or noticed it all, but Natsu had already unwittingly taken her off the market.

The stellar spirit mage walked back to the room casually, no longer panicking about all of this. If Natsu really did like her, she wanted to know what it would be like to be with him too. She'd wanted so much to prove everybody else wrong that she had become blind to the fact that they were right. Everything had been pointing to the dragon slayer, but really, she had figured it all out for herself. A couple of hours ago, she'd been scared and confused because of her own feelings. It had been so wrong for Natsu to be that guy and for her to want to change their relationship, but now…

Mavis, she really kind of liked the doofus.

* * *

Lucy unlocked the door to the room and stepped inside to see her partner sitting on the bed with his cat. "Ready to go?" she asked, grabbing her bag as she would normally.

Natsu did an absolutely pathetic job of masking his surprise, presumably because she had forgone any awkwardness that should have existed since last night. After sorting out her feelings for the fire mage, she didn't really have anything to feel awkward about. She _was_ the one who'd initiated their hot moment. Besides, now that everything was cleared up, she intended to follow through on what she'd started last night. She was going to hear from his lips what she thought she knew.

Natsu nodded dumbly and gathered his own travel items as he trekked after her to check out of their room, stopping only for a moment by a table in the lobby so Lucy could grab the entire pile of cookies off the plate sitting there. Breakfast had only been decent and Lucy would be _damned_ if she let this stupid hotel rip her off. She also managed to stuff packets of hot chocolate powder and coffee grounds as well as several tea bags into her pack before smugly approaching the desk to complete check out.

The blonde noticed her partner's silence and discomfort throughout the entire duration leading up to arriving at the train. She particularly noticed how absolutely _horrible_ he looked while in the booth. Yes, the motion sickness was there like always, but the dark circles under his eyes made it fairly obvious that she hadn't been the only one deprived of sleep last night. He looked incredibly conflicted—worse than she had felt this morning. Lucy suddenly felt this inexplicable urge to hug him, and for the first time, she didn't feel ashamed about it.

"Happy, trade seats with me," she told the feline tersely. He'd been patting Natsu's back in attempt to lessen his "father's" suffering.

Knowing better than to argue with a woman who possessed a loud voice and a whip, he nodded, hopping off his seat as her body replaced his. Natsu looked at her in bewilderment through his visible misery, lying against the window quietly. She easily pulled him away from the glass as he was either too weak to resist or too scared of her to argue, sitting him upright as she began to rub small circles on his back.

"When I was a kid, I used to get sick when we travelled too. My mom used to do this for me and it always made me feel better," Lucy explained softly. It felt good to be helping him right now, never having shared her mother with anyone else. She didn't mind, though, if it was Natsu.

He didn't say anything for a long time, but from the reflection of his face in the window, the stellar spirit mage could tell he was feeling a lot better, his eyes being closed and his features relaxed. The silence was comfortable and Lucy felt calm.

"I…" he finally began, eyes remaining closed. "I thought you were mad at me."

"For what?" she pressed gently. "I was the one who started it, Natsu."

"Not-not that… You wanted me to say something…and I didn't know what to say…"

Her heart suddenly flew up to impossible speeds in a pinch. "So are you going to say something now?"

"I don't wanna…lie…to you…"

She continued her ministrations, trying not to press too hard in her eagerness to hear when he was going to say. He looked so deep in concentration. What his next words were had to be important.

"I…you…"

"What?" Lucy blinked, not quite catching his words.

Her words, she realized, would not be heard though, as Natsu seemed to slump in his spot before falling backwards onto her. His head lolled to the side on her shoulder and she examined him swiftly to find that he'd fallen asleep.

Really? She helped cure his transport-induced sickness and he had the audacity to fall asleep right when she was getting an explanation out of him?

"You're special to him, you know," Happy, who had undoubtedly witnessed the entire ordeal, assured her from the seat the mage had moved from.

"Yeah," she replied honestly, twisting in her spot so that his head lay in her lap. Lucy gazed down at him, seeing her partner at complete peace for the first time while riding the so-called "evil contraption". She turned to look out the window, watching the outside world pass by as she absent-mindedly began to stroke the edges of Natsu's face.

He was special to her too.


	13. Never Been in Love

**Author's Note: **Here we are! Did you guys know that I love happy endings? Well, I also love this chapter.

_**You Stole the Rain**_ is the new Gray x Juvia story, an interlude/companion story to _Possession_. The first chapter shows the results of Natsu and Lucy's bet in chapter 7. Go check it out if you're a fan of Gruvia! I also have a similar Gajeel x Levy story planned for the future, but that is all for the _Possession_ series. Don't worry; _Possession_ is my top priority. You guys are always guaranteed an update. :)

As always, I'm very appreciative of all the support, so thank you to everybody! I hope this chapter lives up to standards. Please enjoy!

* * *

_**Possession**_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 13 – _Never Been in Love_**

* * *

"If he doesn't buy you, I will," Lucy stated plainly. She ran her fingers through the soft blue locks in front of her, completely straight. She'd done a good job.

"Thanks," Levy giggled, standing up off her chair and twirling around in the school girl uniform she was wearing. She smoothed out her hair in wonder, peeking into a nearby mirror. "I never thought straight hair would look good on me."

"That's because you've never tried it before," the blonde replied casually. She fixed up her own hair into a French braid, uncertain of which style would look best with this odd outfit she'd been forced to wear. It was a long, forest-green skirt with a slit running up to her mid-thigh on the right side. Her shirt was a matching halter that was skin tight and showed off her midriff, and both pieces were adorned with golden patterns. The entire outfit was cute, and she didn't really have a problem with how much skin it showed, it was just…

Why had _Makarov_ chosen the costumes? That thought alone disturbed her more than anything else. In fact, Levy was only wearing that school uniform because she had been told to by Erza. Of course, the ex-quipped, Lucy had discovered, sold their rights to choose their own clothes the minute the master had allowed her to use her bunny costume for the event. Erza was not an easy person to buy over, but she _really loved _that cursed bunny outfit.

Jeez, that brought back memories of humiliation. She'd been forced to dance for Gajeel's musical number in that very costume…

Whatever, whatever. It was a long time ago. She didn't want to relive that nightmare again.

"So, Lucy, any thoughts on what kind of guy is going to buy you?" Levy asked, applying some foundation to her face.

The stellar spirit mage pondered for a second, dropping herself onto an armchair. This whole thing was a hassle, though she had to admit it was a rather brilliant fundraising idea. It was a silent auction for a date with the female members of Fairy Tail, proposed by _Wendy_ of all people. It was a little irritating, to say the least, that she might have to deal with some creep for a night while the cause of this horrible thing was still too young to date. Wendy was such a sweet and innocent girl; she probably had no idea what kind of guys were out there.

Of course, when most of the males you knew were feral idiots, Lucy might have to reconsider her previous statement.

"Hey, as long as it isn't some creepy weirdo, I don't really care," she muttered as an answer, though she _did_ care.

The thought of Natsu prickled at her mind endlessly. It hadn't stopped ever since that mission where they'd shared a room together. Sparks had flown that night and their chemistry was undeniable. She saw that her partner felt something for her and she'd no longer been able to wave her own feelings away as simple attraction. Natsu _had_ to feel something for her. The blonde was absolutely certain that he did. Nothing else could have warranted the change in him toward her. Now, though, there was a change in her too. An opportunity like a fundraising auction would have excited her had it not been for all these revelations. Getting guys interested in her seemed more like a very troublesome event for her now. She didn't _want_ another guy; she wanted _Natsu_.

It was odd, thinking that. Her dragon slayer had never really been appealing to her in the way of romantic prospects. In fact, she would have judged him to be possibly the worst boyfriend in the world…but it wasn't true at all. Even as just a friend, he was absolutely spectacular. He did so many things for her that a great boyfriend _would_ do. She was certainly good friends with Mira and Levy and Gray—and that list went on, but nobody else had hijacked a _sakura_ tree for her or caught her when she jumped from a tower or thought about the day she joined their family. To say he was perfect would be totally ridiculous, but if she wanted any more than that in a boyfriend, she was just being greedy.

Still, this was a sensitive subject. Lucy would have much preferred to solve this the day she'd figured out her feelings, but she had to be careful. Natsu appeared to be afraid of his own feelings and she needed to tread lightly if any of this was going to work out at all. They'd both worked so hard to not let those things that happened get between their current relationship, and the last thing she wanted was for him to feel awkward around her.

Life was hard. Forced to date a random guy for a day and unable to force the guy she liked to date her. The universe worked in funny ways.

"Sure you care! You could get a real hottie out of this! I mean, on a shallow level, every guy will want to buy you!" Levy encouraged her optimistically. Boy, that girl was hard to get down.

"Our guild is full of beauties—especially Mira-san," the summoner countered modestly. The only guy who wouldn't dare bid on such a "stupid event" was the one guy she actually wanted to have some time with. Missions were one thing, but a _date_ could really help her entire predicament.

"I think she'll be the one to bring in the most for our guild," the blunette agreed with a nod. "I really hope Master doesn't make any bids…"

"Laxus'll keep him in line," Lucy assured her confidently, but in her mind "_I hope_" echoed with fervour.

The pair left the bathroom, laughing about the potential couples of their guild and discussing which guys would be cheap or skip out on trying to get their girl for a day for lack of money and which guys would be bringing out the big bucks to win their prize. Lucy may have once been afraid of a brutal Gajeel, but if he didn't pull out all the stops for Levy today, she was going to have _words_ with him. He'd held Levy's heart and done nothing about it for long enough.

Of course, since the single female guild members were the ones who ultimately got the short end of the stick in this fundraiser, the guys were stuck preparing for the event again. Gajeel was rather humorously bunching up a decorative stage curtain, looking quite focused and well-behaved, almost as if he was _enjoying_ the task. Some threads from the fabric had gotten caught in his dark hair as well, creating some rainbow-coloured streaks for the iron dragon slayer.

Too bad she didn't have a camera.

"Maybe I should go help him?" Levy wondered aloud, glancing anxiously at the former Phantom Lord member.

"Yeah, you should so he'll get a good look at what he's missing out on," the blonde agreed for completely different reasons.

"Lucy!" the blunette shrieked in embarrassment.

"Levy-chan," she started seriously, placing her hand on her companion's shoulder, "you can't keep going on like this. He's _hurting_ you by doing nothing. You deserve better."

The solid-script mage peeked down at her feet. "It's…not so easy to let go…"

The summoner rubbed Levy's arm softly. She understood. Emotions could push you into unintentionally hurting yourself when they ran as deep as Levy's. She was just so _peeved_ by the fact that Gajeel clearly knew all his options and picked the stupidest, most damaging one: doing nothing. He knew that Levy was willing to be with him even though he'd hurt her in the past, but for such a fearless warrior, he was quite the damn coward. The least he could have done by now was return her feelings (since it was blatantly obvious he did) or reject them so the poor girl could move on.

Mavis, were all male dragon slayers so emotionally incapable?

Lucy sighed in exasperation. "When he finally decides he wants to keep you, you'd better make him beg."

Levy smiled at her and giggled softly, mumbling a "yeah…" before skipping off to go remove Gajeel's newly acquired "hair". The celestial spirit mage was really hoping that it worked out for her good friend. For some reason, Levy had decided to wait for him, and that in itself was a painful task. She was enduring it for him, so the metal-studded dragon slayer had better man up soon and give Levy the happy ending she deserved.

The stellar spirit mage decided to look for her current object of affection. It only took her a minute to find him as he was setting up tables in front of the stages where the papers for the auction would sit. Gray too was busy nearby, but a certain ex-quipper's presence prevented them from getting into any sort of brawl. Besides, after getting thoroughly beaten by Juvia in light of their bet, Natsu was beginning to pick less fights with the ice mage, and if that wasn't enough, with Erza sitting happily in her bunny suit, _nobody_ wanted to do anything that could change that cheerful mood the redhead was in.

"Hey, how's it going?" Lucy greeted her partner casually as she hopped onto one of the tables the fire-eater had set down and crossed one leg over the other.

"This is boring," Natsu grunted in complaint, "and _Erza's_ there. I'd rather be on a mission."

"A lot of things are better than blowing stuff up, Natsu."

"Like what?" he shot back arrogantly, like there was nothing in the world better than explosions and setting evil guys on fire.

Lucy thought for a moment. Most things she would consider being better than combustion (which was _a lot_ of things, as said) definitely wouldn't make the pyromaniac's list. Natsu was a different kind of animal, but they still had things in common. "Like…love."

He raised an eyebrow in question. She smacked her face with her palm.

Taking a deep breath, she tried again. "Love can be that bond you have with your friends, but it can also be a deep connection to someone that nobody else can replace—like your mate," she explained, his reaction causing her to rethink the prospect that Natsu might feel something for her.

The dragon slayer paused in his work to look at her for a moment. "Doesn't…it hurt though?"

She blinked, not expecting that response. "Eh?"

He seemed to grapple with himself mentally, trying to find a way to express himself. "Doesn't it…hurt when you want someone that doesn't want you? Doesn't it scare you…that—that you could ruin something you already had by making it more? Isn't it strange that someone…could affect you so much that it…_changes_ you? Isn't that more pain than it's worth?"

Lucy sincerely wanted to say something, but she was at a complete loss for words. Why did he seem so conflicted and insecure about this subject? Was this how he really felt right now? Was that why he was so afraid? The man she knew simply didn't speak so pessimistically about _anything_.

"Forget I said that," the dragon slayer said quickly, shaking his head. "Gajeel tells me weird things."

"It's still better than blowing stuff up," the blonde blurted out, kind of taking his outlook on the subject as a personal offense. She might not share an appreciation for explosions with Natsu, but she _refused_ to let him slander something so important to her. Admittedly, she had never actually fallen in love before, but the idea of having that feeling—the one Levy had—was still a beautiful dream to her. Sometimes it could hurt, certainly, but just being capable of feeling that way for someone was better than not trying at all. She wanted to feel complete. That couldn't come without a price.

"Why?" he challenged quietly.

She glared at him when she failed to produce a sufficient answer. All those reasons she had in her head…would Natsu even understand them? He was different from her; the fire mage didn't feel the need to seek another part of himself. He was perfectly content with being single and could live happily so long as he had his friends. To him, it was enough. For her, it wasn't. Maybe she was greedy, wanting more than the magnificence of what she already had in her life, but she _had_ her reasons, so it was okay. Why would Natsu ever look for more when he didn't want more than what he already had?

"…I'll think of something," Lucy grit out in determination.

She didn't bother looking back at him as she walked away. Knowing that he didn't care for love in the way that she did had been fine. Knowing that he felt so _negatively_ about it made her _angry_. This was a man _she_ had feelings for. She would show him. She would give him a reason.

* * *

Backstage a couple hours later, Lucy was _still _wracking her brains for something to counter Natsu with. Despite the creepy costume choices by Makarov, all the women looked fabulous. Lisanna appeared to be the only one in a normal dress though, and the blonde suspected that the animagus' older sister probably had something to do with it. Mira could definitely scare a grown man stiff if she so chose.

At that moment, the event was being introduced by Alzack, a man who could hardly be a creep because he was married and had a daughter (that Lucy highly doubted the sharpshooter wanted men to be ogling at in the future). He had enough charisma to be the MC and it was a little comforting knowing that the only other person that would be on the stage with her was unlikely to grope her.

The spirit mage was hardly focused on her surroundings though. She usually revelled at the idea of having attention, but more important things were on her mind. It barely registered when the first of the females was called to walk the stage. This inexplicable need to prove to Natsu that love was worth it had taken absolute control.

Levy was called to walk.

Was he actually convinced that love was such a bad thing—that destruction was better than any pain you had to go through to get that _feeling_? He was wrong; he had to be. How could she know though? She'd never been in love herself. She'd never fallen so hard for someone that all she knew was that only he could give her that warm feeling—and that _that_ feeling pushed away all the suffering it caused too. How could she know?

Lisanna was called to walk.

She knew because she _had_ felt it before. It came in brief moments, giving her little hints that she was stupid enough to never pick up on. It came when she didn't expect it, arriving so suddenly that she could brush it off as just surprise. It came when _he_ came because he was the one behind it all.

She'd never been in love? Wasn't she in love right now? Didn't that ring she wore on her finger everyday prove it?

Lucy was called to walk.

"_Doesn't it…hurt when you want someone who doesn't want you?"_

The words echoed through her mind as she strutted to the middle of the stage, so many eyes glistening at the display. Did Natsu want her? She liked to think he did at the moment, but if he didn't, would it hurt? Of course.

"_Doesn't it scare you…that—that you could ruin something you already had by making it more?_"

The summoner struck a pose, one hand on her hip and one raised high into the air as if reaching for the sky. Getting low, she ran her hand suggestively up the side of her exposed leg back into an upright position, blowing a kiss to the crowd.

She'd worked so hard to keep her friendship with Natsu where it was today. No amount of strain on their relationship had ever prevailed in making them an awkward duo (or trio, if you counted Happy). They were always candid with each other, and cared for one another deeply, perhaps more deeply than a husband and wife. They'd been through fights, physical and emotional, and still came out strong.

So what if she changed that because she wanted more? Not everything worked out and a break up could shatter all that they'd accomplished over the years. All it would take was a second for something so special to fall to pieces.

"_Isn't it strange that someone…could affect you so much that it…__**changes **__you?"_

Lucy deliberately swayed her hips in an exaggerated manner as she walked to the end of the stage.

She supposed it was a bit strange that someone in the world could influence you so much. Once upon a time, she had been the most proper little girl in the world, but as she grew older, the rebellious Lucy had emerged. Even _after_ she'd joined Fairy Tail, some of that proper girl had stuck inside of her though. It had been _Natsu_ who had finally gotten rid of the part of her that was uptight and afraid. He'd brought out the fun Lucy, and he'd taught her what it meant to fight for your friends—_and_ fight for your family. Change…what was wrong with it when it was good?

"_Isn't that more pain than it's worth?_"

No… It was worth it…because in the end she would have _him_. Wouldn't it… Wouldn't it be the same reversed?

The celestial spirit mage dashed out into the main floor as soon as she'd gotten off stage. Juvia was making her entrance now and the blonde wasn't even noticed amongst the crowd. She glanced around erratically. He was difficult to find under the blanket of darkness and sea of males. With only the light from the stage, she searched for that familiar rose hair and white scarf. Instead, she located the next best thing standing inconspicuously on one of the auction tables.

"Happy? Is that you?" she asked loudly, trying to be heard over the blaring music.

"Aye!" the cat confirmed cheerfully, holding up a pen in his paws.

"Why do you have a pen?" Lucy enquired curiously.

"Aye!" he simply replied.

She scowled, unsure as to whether or not he'd just been ignoring her or actually hadn't heard her. Knowing Happy though, he was probably doing that just to annoy her. Instead of buying into his act, Lucy focused on her primary objective.

"Never mind. Where's Natsu?" she asked hurriedly.

His brow furrowed in though before holding up the pen and pointing its tip toward the back of the room. "He was standing back there when you were on stage, but I'm not sure where he's gone now."

"Thanks," she breathed, whirling to head in that direction. The summoner paused mid-step and glanced back suspiciously. "Happy, don't do anything _bad_."

The feline just smiled as he usually did, eyes wide, replying for the third time that day, "Aye!"

The key-user shook her head and continued on her quest dutifully. Her loud companion was most definitely not in the spot he'd been in while she was on stage, nor was he in a nearby hallway or the kitchen or at the bar. She'd been _everywhere_, even the men's bathroom, and Lucy had some pretty clear boundaries when it came to doing stuff like _that_. Pondering that idiot's location was getting pretty darn tiring—especially since she was actually supposed to be entertaining guests so that people would want to bid on her. Maybe she wouldn't get any high prices for herself, but she was going to find Natsu!

Returning to the main room had been painful. Several men had stopped her to talk and Lucy had been so distracted that she wasn't quite sure how she'd even blown them off. Maybe she hadn't. Was she still pretending to listen to the same guy? She wasn't sure, but—

NATSU!

_I finally found you!_ The stellar spirit mage celebrated internally. She didn't even bother trying to excuse herself from whatever conversation she was supposed to be in when she saw him. She just _moved_.

"Where have you been?" the feisty blonde demanded as she stalked up to him.

Natsu looked around slightly nervously, uncertain of the situation. "Uh…around?"

"Whatever," she huffed grudgingly as she backed him into a corner. "I have an answer for you."

Natsu crossed his arms, stubbornly looking away. "I wasn't looking for one."

"It _is_ worth it," the blonde mage told him promptly, ignoring his statement. "Maybe it hurts, or it's scary, or it's weird, but it _is_ worth all that. I know it. I know that feeling."

"So?" he shrugged carelessly. "Why am I supposed to care about that?"

A surge of frustration burst throughout her body. He'd asked her such honest question earlier and now he was rejecting them? Lucy was getting really pissed off. _Really_ pissed off. What was his deal? The only answer she could give him was only applicable if he liked her. _Did_ he even like her?

She didn't know, not for sure, but now was a good a time as ever to find out.

"Do you trust me?" the summoner asked sharply.

The dragon slayer eyed her cautiously. "You know I do."

"Then close your eyes," she commanded him quietly.

He was hesitant. She could practically feel the uncertainty radiating off him. Nevertheless, Natsu did as he was told.

Lucy needed to confirm this and there was only one way to do it.

She didn't remember how exactly she'd done this last time, so she settled for a revised version. The celestial spirit mage moved forward, placing her hands on his shoulders. Her right hand trailed down the side of his muscular arm while her left hand found its way to the back of his neck. She leaned her head against his chest, ear above his heart, listening intently as she weaved her fingers between his. His heart was racing. His hand was hot in hers. He felt so perfect against her.

The blonde playfully stroked the nape of his neck as she felt her own heart kick up a notch. Her own eyes fell closed in contentment, enjoying his warmth and his scent and the feeling of _him._

"Tell me you feel something," she whispered, though loud enough to hear over the music and the chatter in the solitude of this dark corner. "Tell me…there's something there."

Natsu remained completely silent, but his hand squeezed hers and he pulled her tightly in with his other. It was the best feeling she'd had in a long time. He was reciprocating, wasn't he? Even if he hadn't said anything, this had to mean that he felt the same way. The way he was clinging to her as if he couldn't possibly let her go said it all. She unconsciously tightened her hold on him in return. She didn't want to let go either. She wanted more.

Lucy pushed against her toes, bringing her right hand up to join the other. She'd been craving this so badly, and right now, just being in his arms wasn't enough. The stellar spirit mage pressed her lips onto his and it was like a reservoir of relief came crashing out of her. She had everything she wanted. _Everything_.

And suddenly, it all had to be taken away.

An immediate rush of cold hit her when the dragon slayer pushed her away. It took her seconds to process exactly what had happened, and when she finally did, the blonde was thoroughly confused. She looked to her partner and couldn't fathom why he was stand there looking angry and hurt. Had Lucy just imagined how he'd returned her feelings?

"N-Natsu?"

He was a couple of feet away from her now, shaking his head. "Just…just stop. You've proved your point. I get it."

"Wha…?" she breathed in utter bewilderment.

"I believe you, okay? You don't have to do any more," Natsu muttered as he peered at the floor. Once more, he shook his head before he walked off, not sparing her a glance, just as she'd done earlier.

Lucy stood there feeling hollow and confused as she watched his retreating figure. Her mind was blank, even as the tips of his white scarf disappeared from sight. The sound of the music muted as it passed through her ears and the celestial spirit mage was left standing alone with only the lights on the stage illuminating the dark hall where he'd gone.

What in Earthland had just happened?


	14. Ignorance

**Author's Note:** Ugh, sorry for taking so long. School's really been hell and you've all been so patient. A thousand thanks to all of you! Thanks, Panda (**Mrs. HopeEstheim**), for pointing out my typos!

On a side note, I have been completely spazzing (which I never do) about The Legend of Korra's release. Anybody else a fan? I recently took up a writing prompt as a break in school with my brilliant friend **Irradiance**. If anyone wants to read that story, it's called _Cactonic_ and can be accessed through my profile. **Irradiance**'s page can also be found through my profile!

So, do you think this story is going to get all angsty? Nope! Not this one! This chapter and next one are a little bit more depressing than the others, but things will be resolved soon. Of course, the next update won't be for a little while because of finals coming up and I do want to get another chapter for _You Stole the Rain_ written. I am actually shocked how small the Gruvia community is! They need more love!

Anyhow, here's the next chapter!

* * *

**_Possession_ **by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 14 – _Ignorance_**

* * *

Of all things Natsu could have been defeated by, he hadn't expected "heartbreak" to be it. That wasn't to say that he'd been crippled by an emotional overload of hurt feelings, but he _did_ hurt. It almost felt a little shameful. This man did not let things like this get him down, and here he was feeling irrationally depressed.

Okay, some might disagree with him on that fact, but the dragon slayer thought that feeling this way about things that didn't even matter was a waste of time. He'd lived _way_ longer without romantic need than with it, so why should he need it now? He'd been good and fine until this whole predicament rolled around. He certainly didn't need any of this drama! Natsu didn't _do_ drama. How did his life get dramatic?

"This is dumb," he muttered to himself moodily as he walked along the street. The fire mage couldn't help being a little testy this morning. He'd had a hard time sleeping and even found little appeal in having food when he woke up not two hours after he'd finally gotten to sleep.

Last night had hit him hard. He missed the days when all he had to worry about was Erza or incurring the wrath of the master by destroying too many things and getting him in trouble with the Council. Those seemed like a passing thought now; they came and went as quickly as fire on a match. They were nothing in comparison with his worries regarding _Lucy_.

Mavis, thinking about her hurt. He'd always wondered about how she felt for him and yesterday had answered every anxious question that had crossed his mind. Maybe he would have been better off not knowing and feeling afraid of what the truth might be, but he guessed closure was nice—if _nice_ was even what he could call it. At least he wasn't stuck going around in circles anymore.

But _damn it._ This was tougher than he expected it to be. Yesterday, Natsu had discovered just how much his heart could hurt. He'd left the auction as soon as he could and what had been a mad pounding last night was now a dull stab. It was nothing like the anguish he felt when he realized that Igneel was gone; it was a different kind of pain, yet equally as bad in every way. The fire-eater had known full well what she thought about him, and now he knew how she felt about him too.

It was just…how could she do that to him? The stellar spirit mage had touched him so affectionately, like it was the truth—like it _mattered_ when she'd done it all just to prove a point. Did she expect him to just brush it off? Did she just…just…how could she _do that_ to him? He trusted her and that was how she used it. Natsu wasn't even sure if he was more angry or hurt at that moment.

Either way, Lucy was still part of the guild and she was still his friend. She probably hadn't even realized that what she'd done was wrong. Their minds were completely different, after all, but that didn't really change anything. In the end, she had to understand that he could be hurt by her actions too. He was simply too infuriated at this time to explain that to her. The blonde would probably ask him about it if she saw him today, which he really hoped did not happen. Natsu was really intent on getting, hmm, perhaps a week-long solo mission. It would be perfect to escape for a short while, gain some cash and calm himself down. It would give him time to lock away all these feelings that he shouldn't have. It would be just him and…

Wait, where the heck was Happy? The cat hadn't come home last night. The dragon slayer sighed and kicked a stray rock in frustration. It was at times like these that he wished the Exceed would spend a little less time with Charle.

…Augh, no he didn't. He was _glad_ for Happy. He just felt exceptionally sorry for himself.

The rose-haired male found that he was feeling particularly short-tempered when he arrived at the guild. He seriously just wanted to grab a mission and get out of there. If Gray were to approach him then, the dragon slayer knew he was going to get into a fight and he just wanted to _leave_. He rarely wanted to be alone, but then again, it was pretty uncommon for him to experience cardiac incapacitation as well. He really needed a break from everything. Maybe for just one day, things could be allowed to go right.

"You sly bastard," an irritable voice sprung up from beside him.

Wow, Natsu could already feel himself itching to hit something.

"What do you want, stripper?" the fire mage growled in annoyance, not bothering to look over.

"You asshole. You tryin' to make us look bad?" Gajeel's voice came as well.

This time, the flame dragon slayer decided that if he were being ambushed by another guy besides his main rival, there must be some reason as to why. He stole a weary glance at the fully-loaded mission board only meters away, then turned to confront his current problems.

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" he questioned them bluntly.

"Are you kidding, you—"

"Wait," the studded male interrupted, "he might actually not know. He left early."

Gray gave his ally a sour look. "That doesn't change the fact that he made an offer. There are _rules_, damn it!"

"Yeah, but this guy's a dumbass! He probably doesn't even know there _are_ rules!"

"I don't care! I'm gunna smash his face in!"

"You couldn't even if you wanted to, weakling," Natsu shot back, always up for a challenge though completely ignorant of what they were speaking of.

The iron dragon slayer glared back at the ice mage. "We'll beat him up later. We need to teach him _now_ or he might do this again."

Gray seemed to relax a bit at this statement, apparently seeing merit in whatever argument the former Phantom Lord member had put out. The third, confused male felt his own need to melt some ice fall slightly as well, but his feelings of irritability had risen significantly. He didn't exactly want any new mysteries popping up while he was recovering from the revelation of the last one.

"Can you hurry up and talk? I want to go on a mission," the fire-eater growled in exasperation.

His two accusers exchanged looks, but Gray was the first to speak: "…Shit, he actually doesn't know."

"Which is why we're going to _teach_ him before he screws us over a second time," Gajeel replied gruffly.

"Quit ignoring me!" Natsu demanded, a thin layer of flames now coating his body. He _really_ was out of patience today.

It was enough to finally get an explanation as his fellow dragon slayer turned to him and crossed his arms. "You ain't going on a mission today; you're going on a date."

A…date? What was that again? And why was he going on one? Oh, wasn't a date that thing that Lucy liked to do with guys all the time? If that was what it was, Natsu was pretty sure he hadn't agreed to do anything like that, and he _definitely_ wouldn't have chosen any mission that involved that.

"I am…?"

"You won one of the 'prizes' last night, but I guess you didn't hear it since you left so quickly," Gajeel continued informatively.

The rose-haired pyromaniac cocked his head, unable to comprehend the beginning of that sentence. "What does that even _mean_?"

The ice-maker briefly looked as though he was ready to commit homicide again, but instead settled for wrestling with his t-shirt. "I means you bought a _date_ last night, moron. It was a silent auction!" he clarified, nearly ripping his troublesome garment off in the process.

Natsu thought back intensely. He couldn't have possibly bought a date because he hadn't bid on anything. He'd been too caught up in the conversation he'd had with Lucy earlier that day, and then he almost lost his sanity when she had taken the stage. _That_ had been bad. The dragon slayer had been mesmerized by her beauty and her presence while she had been up there. It'd seemed like his partner had been in a whole other world, but her absent expression had only made her more desirable. He'd snapped out of his stupor as soon as she'd left the stage, which was when he had realized that his very flexible pants were a little tight in the crotch area.

Oh hell, had he run.

After taking care of _that_ catastrophe ("Trains... Gray in a bikini… Ugh, _Master_ in a bikini…"), the fire mage had been found by Lucy, the thing he was now mulling over had happened, and he had gone home following. There really hadn't been any time between those things to make an offer on a girl—not that he wanted to. If he _had_ bid on anyone, it would have been Lucy, he supposed, and Natsu knew that she wouldn't have appreciated it if a potential bachelor was turned away because he didn't want any creeps touching her.

But anyway, how'd he get this date again?

"I never bid on anyone yesterday," Natsu said honestly, "but even if I did, why are you guys so mad about it?"

"Because…! I don't want Juvia to think…" Gray trailed off in either shame or embarrassment. Maybe both.

"By being the only guy in the guild to pull out enough cash to get the girl he likes on a date, you're making everyone who _didn't_ look like a piece of shit to those damn harpies," Gajeel grunted out. He seemed like he wanted to place blame on someone for whatever this was, but didn't really believe it was anybody's fault but his own. "You don't do that to other guys. It's a rule."

"I thought we were just supposed to keep from pissing off Erza," the confused male stated tersely.

"It's not a _guild_ rule, you moron! It's a _guy_ rule!" Gray exploded in frustration.

"How come I never heard about them?" Natsu asked suspiciously.

"Nobody tells you about them. You're just supposed to _know_," the ice mage retorted. His shirt was pretty much getting shredded now.

"That doesn't make any sense," Natsu growled back, rather sick of being called an idiot by both of them. _They_ were the ones who didn't have a logically sound argument. "How am I supposed to know 'guy rules' if nobody ever told me about them?"

"Gajeel, you'd better get out of the way because I'm going to decapitate this worthless piece of sh—"

"Good morning, Natsu, Gajeel, Gray-san!"

Raging Gray was forced to cool down when Wendy came up to the group with a bright smile on her face. Charle and Happy were nowhere to be seen, but the dragon slayer was more curious as to why she wanted to talk to the three of _them_. Romeo was usually at the guild quarters at this hour, and the two young teens were pretty much inseparable.

"Uh, hey…" Natsu coughed while the other gave her a slight nod of their heads.

She looked incredibly excited for some reason, beaming and rocking back and forth on the flat of her feet. "So, um, are you ready for your date?"

"I dunno. I should probably figure out who I apparently bid on first," he sighed tiredly. The day he'd wanted to get away from ended up being latched around his ankle instead.

"You…you don't know who?" the sky dragon slayer asked unsteadily. "Weren't you here for the winners yesterday?"

"This guy left early, but you'd think he'd remember pulling out twenty-thousand jewels for a girl," the half-naked man snickered.

"T-twenty-thousand jewels?" Natsu spluttered, eyes going wide as soon as he heard those words. "I don't have that kind of money to spend!"

"Oh yeah? Then why'd you bid?"

"I _didn't_, bastard!"

"Just admit it, you—"

"Gray-san!" Wendy shouted, suddenly looking very nervous. "Please don't blame him. He's telling the truth."

All three males turned and stared at the young girl expectantly.

"I didn't come up with the idea for the auction on my own. Charle and Happy helped me because we wanted to help you, Natsu. Well, at least Happy did. He's the one who put down your bid yesterday while everyone was still watching the stage," she explained guiltily. "I asked Master to help too, and he agreed not to charge you as long as our plan worked."

"This whole fundraiser was a sham?" Gajeel spat in rage. "So I got shafted because of a brat's plan?"

"Don't blame her. You _should_ have bid. You've been playing with Levy long enough," Gray shot back, and no alliance seemed to remain by the snarl the dragon slayer countered with.

"I'm sorry, Gajeel! I-I didn't mean to cause you trouble," the small female whimpered, and the older male recoiled at her tone. Now _he_ was the only looking guilty.

"Wait, so who am I supposed to be going on a date with then?" Natsu asked seriously, just now having figured out what Wendy had planned.

"You'll go?" the little healer responded hopefully, the brightness returning to her visage.

"I guess. Otherwise I'll have to pay, right?" the fire mage rationalized with a shrug. He couldn't honestly be angry with the youngest dragon slayer. When he was that little, he'd done his fair share of stupid things to get what he wanted, and this was far less extreme.

"Oh, thank you! I'm really sorry that I put you in this position," she apologized with a bow, though now she was quaking with glee. "I'll take care of everything! Just talk to Mira-san before you go! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm really sorry!"

Wendy then sped off in her quest to plan a date with swiftness none of the men ever knew she had. The fire dragon slayer admittedly considered her to be his little sister and would rather not let her down if possible. She'd lost Grandeeney when she was so young and that fact had caused Natsu to feel a bit more compassion for her over some of the other guild members. He knew how that loss felt and it was easy to relate to her. Still, she hadn't told him…

"Oi, who am I going with?" he enquired again.

Gajeel raised an eyebrow, but it was Gray who replied, "Isn't it obvious?"

Natsu stared, befuddled.

"_Lucy_, you dumbass!"

Oh.

Ooh.

_Ooh._

Crap.

* * *

In retrospect, he probably should have found out exactly what he was agreeing to before he'd opened his mouth. Then again, it hadn't been the first time something horribly ironic happened to him for throwing caution to the wind. It wasn't in his nature to be careful anyway. Still, the fact that he'd tried so hard to avoid this situation made this error in judgement all the more disconcerting. Maybe Gajeel and Gray kind of had it right in calling him a moron. Looking at where his brain had gotten him, it wasn't such a far off suggestion. Common sense would have required him to think it through, and yet here he was…

There was also the knowledge that his good friend had had a hand in this. Natsu was rather dismayed at this fact, but he knew Happy was only trying to get the dragon slayer to do something. The two of them had certainly had conversations about his inaction in the past, and nothing had ever come of it. Natsu hadn't done anything—well, maybe besides accidentally express his anxieties about love to his best friend, who also turned out to be the one he was anxious _about_. Yeah, he shouldn't have done _that._ It had resulted in the pain he was experiencing now and what would be a painfully awkward predicament in the imminent future. Why was he so bad at keeping things from her?

Actually, why was he so bad at staying _away_ from her?

Of course he would prefer to _not _avoid her, but under circumstances like today, he really would've liked to stay away. Obviously doing so was no longer an option and he just had to deal with that. He dreaded their next encounter, all the same. The rose-haired mage didn't know what she would say to him. He didn't know what he would say to _her._ He was still hurt, and he wasn't ready to explain anything if she couldn't understand his anger.

Regardless, he was going to keep his word to Wendy. He might not know a whole lot about that…dating…thing, but he would go and make sure that Lucy had a decent time. Holding a grudge and paying 20 000 jewels wasn't worth it anyway.

The sad thing was, this _wasn't_ the reason he wanted to make this a good experience for his partner. Natsu could certainly keep telling himself that it was—it was much easier than admitting to himself that he _still_ only wanted to make her smile even after she'd hurt him. It was one thing for him to be a scumbag, which he wasn't, and want to return that pain intentionally, and it was another to take the high road and just be okay with what she'd done. He could do neither. To bring himself to hurt her would be like killing a friend; it was simply something that he could never do. To be okay with her action was impossible too. She had to learn that even _their_ friendship had its limits. She couldn't just kiss him like that and expect him to be okay with it.

"Mirajane," he called to the cheerful female standing behind the bar. "Wendy told me to come see you."

Mira smiled, placing a few fingers over her mouth. "Oh, look who's so eager! I won't be prepared for another hour or so."

…Holy Earthland, she was in on this too, wasn't she?

"Now, now, Natsu, there's no need to be so hasty. You should at least tell your date when you're coming to pick her up, right?" the silver-haired female suggested with a wink.

"Uh, sure…" he replied skeptically. The pyromaniac really didn't mix well with this whole dating thing. Why were there so many preparations and people involved? As far as he'd observed, a date was just two people going out to have fun together. He'd had lots of fun with Lucy in the past with just the two of them. Did this really have to be so formal?

_Dating is that thing Lucy does. Of course it can't be normal_, he nodded to himself as Mira prodded him to go find said girl. Eventually, he did move away from the bar in search of the blonde, but mostly only because his agreement with Wendy prompted him to. Natsu wondered if Lucy was even _in _the guild quarters right now. He'd definitely been the one to leave yesterday, but that could've easily made her just as angry with him as he was with her. He'd left her there in a less than optimistic atmosphere, after all, and with no real explanation as to why. He still didn't want to explain it to her right now…

"N-Natsu…"

The dragon slayer turned to see that the very person he was supposed to look for had tracked him down instead. Lucy was trying her best to keep eye contact with him and was failing miserably, her eyes meeting his for a second before darting elsewhere and thus beginning a struggling cycle. Her hands were hooked together behind her back, the male could tell, while her feet shifted restlessly.

She was nervous. The celestial spirit mage had never been competent at hiding her emotions, but Natsu was no expert at reading them either. Right now, it was _very_ clear how anxious she was standing there. Maybe…maybe she knew of her wrong…?

"About yesterday…can we talk?" Lucy asked hoarsely. "You…you left so quickly…"

He swallowed. No, she _didn't_ know. She was upset that he left. _She_ was upset that he left. _She _obviously wanted to know why, and he was still too wounded to tell her.

Anger crept over his body but the skilled fire mage kept his feelings at bay. She was still his best friend—one that he happened to be taking on a date today and one that he wanted to bring happiness to. Not today. He wouldn't break. Maybe he wouldn't be able to treat her as he usually did, but he wasn't going to lash out at her. That incident…had damaged him more than he was willing to admit.

"I left because you proved your point," he answered discreetly, thought it was a complete lie. Lucy _had_ proved a point that day though: love wasn't worth the pain. He was seriously just done with everything to do with that stupid feeling. It had engulfed his life over the last few months and the dragon slayer was just sick of thinking about it. All that sentiment and desire…he just _wished_ it were gone. He wanted to go back to the way it was—back to when he hadn't _known_ about all this. If he'd never discovered how much she meant to him, her assumption might have been right. He might've never cared about that kiss or that embrace. She would've been right.

But this was reality, and she was wrong.

She looked at him, something in her eyes that was perhaps something along the lines of fear. No, that wasn't it. It was…pain, the same as his own. Natsu could see the heartbreak thrumming through her, but he convinced himself that it wasn't true—that those brown eyes were lying to him because it _couldn't_ be heartbreak. He was only a friend to her. He was incapable of damaging something that didn't belong to him.

"Natsu…"

The dragon slayer began to stalk off in another direction, no longer wanting to deal with this. He didn't _want_ to hurt her, if that was what he was doing to her, but needed some time to fix himself before he could try to reconcile their…friendship. The word plagued his thoughts like a leech to skin. How could he have ever hoped for more…?

A small hand pulled him from his reverie as it grasped at his wrist. The fire-eater turned his head back sharply to stare at the girl who was his whole world right now and paused.

The second time he saw that hurt in her eyes, whatever resolve he had to stay away from her crumbled—especially when he saw the tears.

"You're mad, aren't you?" she asked, eyes glistening with that potent emotion.

He _was_ mad, but he didn't want to make her cry. He didn't want to _ever_ see her cry. He wanted her to smile and be happy, despite the torment she had started for him yesterday. Lucy was one of the most important people in his life and it clawed at him even more that _he _had done this to _her._

Comfort, though, was not something he could offer at the moment. He needed to cool off from all the feelings raging in his heart, so he gently pulled his arm away from her and forced his eyes ahead once more.

"I'll see you at one," Natsu told her, walking off and elaborating no further even though she obviously didn't know about what transpired after they'd left. She would find out soon, no doubt, about what was happening. For now, he needed to steel _himself_ for that event.

He, Natsu Dragneel, was going on a date.


	15. Resolution

**Author's Note:** Yeah, so sorry that this took forever. I've just been having a _ton_ of trouble with chapter 16, which is now finished but needs to go through some massive editing before it can be posted. I'm really unhappy with it.

**I've noticed a lot of readers are frustrated with Natsu.** Well, you have to remember that he practically has no experience with girls, and he isn't exactly a rocket scientist either. On top of that, he's like the _king_ of _NAKAMA_. NaLu isn't even canon because they're just such good FRIENDS. Putting that all together, I feel like Natsu would have a really difficult time changing his relationship from platonic to romantic with Lucy. That's just how I feel though, but since it's my story, that's how I'm writing it. Sorry if it's too slow for you. :/

Thank you for all the warm feedback, and thanks to **seireeii** for sending me such kind messages! You're all so wonderful! I'm glad to see many fellow Korra fans out there!

As a final note, I've created a tumblr (hawkofnavarre is the user. Creative, right?) that I'm using for my personal writing blog. There you'll find progress updates, sneak peeks, future plans for stories, and possibly a bit of Korra here and there. If anyone has any questions for me about _anything _(save for update times), I encourage you to ask me there!

Gah, apologies for the long author's note. Go read.

* * *

_**Possession**_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 15 – _Resolution_**

* * *

How had she missed it? How? How did this even _work_?

Lucy was a mess. She had a date with Natsu in an hour, but she was stuck between wanting to look good for him and whether or not she should even bother with _that_ because he was so damn _furious _with her for some reason she couldn't figure out.

Where did she even begin with this? She knew Natsu had been afraid of saying anything to her, and while that had been okay for her at first, the feeling of staying ignorant to how he felt was spiralled out of control when he denied his insecurities. He'd _asked_ her and she'd gone out of her mind finding an answer for him. She hadn't been able to stand it when he rejected what she was saying without another thought. That was when she'd stopped caring about it. After that, the spirit mage had just wanted to know if her suspicions were true—whether she should have even put in the effort to help him with something he evidently didn't care about.

She'd put the "mate test" (as she now dubbed it) to work for the second time ever. At that time, she had thought the outcome would be the same as the first time she'd done it, and it had scared her more than any possible rejection ever had. Lucy had poured all her feelings into her actions and practically _begged_ him to just respond or push her away.

That's where it got confusing. The dragon slayer had pulled her closer. He'd _wanted_ her there, and so when he pushed her away, she'd been as bewildered as ever. Was that reciprocation or rejection? And why in Earthland had it made him so mad?

She mulled over this for several moments, staring at the contents of her open closet. It was really her own fault in the end. If she hadn't been so desperate to know what he was feeling, she never would have gotten into such a mess. Lucy didn't normally do such impulsive things, and now that she had, she was paying the price. The blonde sighed and fell back onto her bed, grabbing a pillow to stuff against her face. Yesterday she'd shoved all inhibitions aside to complete her mission. Now she just felt ashamed and embarrassed. While she wasn't quite sure what had upset Natsu so much, she'd _known_ how fragile that part of their relationship was. She'd _told_ herself to be careful and Lucy had blatantly ignored her own warnings. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

The celestial spirit mage recalled his words from the day before and sighed. She'd cried over it long enough last night, initially taking his actions as a sign of eternal rejection. Now, thinking more coherently, she realized that _that_ wasn't the case. He _had_ responded to it; she'd just done something wrong. Still, trying to go over the incident in her mind wouldn't help at all. That moment had gotten increasingly muddled in her head, and the more she thought about it, the more the chain of events changed so that Lucy wasn't even sure if what she knew was actually _right_ anymore.

Thinking about it was draining anyway, nor did it help resolve anything. Maybe the whole reason for what happened was simple and she was just over-analyzing things. Whatever it was, it was frustrating not knowing the issue and she wasn't going to figure this out anytime soon. She should focus on more immediate problems…like what she was going to wear.

It sounded so absolutely juvenile and pathetic when she compared it to other, more significant problems, but it was problem she had worked really hard to find. How could this happen to her? Dressing was like reading a child's book for her, yet here she was contemplating if she should wear shorts or a skirt!

Ugh, Natsu was completely _furious_ with her and she was subconsciously trying to distract herself with worrying about _what to wear_. _Way to go, Lucy. You're so sad that you've turned yourself into a shallow hussy. Congratulations._

The blonde wanted to summon Aquarius and just let the demonic spirit have her way. Even _that_ would be better than this. She couldn't though. No. She needed to face this no matter how horrible this might make her feel. It really couldn't get that much worse anyway. She already felt like a fan girl that Loke had dumped.

Abruptly shoving her made up worries about clothing to the back of her mind, she pulled on a pair of black shorts and a simple t-shirt, practically clothes she'd only wear at home. She knew she was being stupid anyway. Natsu didn't care about what she wore, and even if he did, he was probably too angry to notice. In short, nobody cared about she wore today. _Lucy_ didn't even really care about she wore today. Great, more pointless mental battles.

Another sigh left her as she slouched onto her bed for the second time. Were things going to be this bad when they were together now? Was today going to go the same way as it had this morning? He had been cool—not _cold_, just _cool_—and his voice held that bit of aggression she wasn't used to having directed at her. Wait, why were they even going through with this "date" thing at all? Had he bid on her?

For not more than a few seconds, Lucy had that "Aw! He's so sweet!" feeling stirring around her chest and making her feel all fuzzy and warm, but she quickly realized that it was impossible for the dragon slayer to have done such a thing. Nobody had been allowed to bid until all the girls had been displayed, and he hadn't gone back to the main area until the moment she'd located him. Beside, seeing how he was acting, he looked more like he was being forced into this than anything. It would be insanely out of character for him to ever do something like that anyway. So then how had this happened?

An image of a dark, smiling cat flashed in her mind. He was holding a pen and kept answering all her questions with a suspicious, "Aye!"

Groaning to herself, she wondered how she'd even missed it. Lucy had even told him not to do anything bad! She should've held more caution to her own words. Thinking about it now, it was incredibly obvious that Happy had set this up after they way she'd seen him yesterday. Natsu had to pay for the bid though, didn't he? She didn't want to deplete his savings over something he couldn't control…

Then again, she couldn't control it either. There was obviously _some_ reason he was taking her on this date, and if the rose-haired male hadn't backed out, she wasn't going to either. She had to figure out what had happened—or at the very least try and fix her relationship with the man. Fairy Tail was her family, yes, but without Natsu, that wouldn't even matter. She couldn't imagine herself at the guild, always receiving those apathetic glances from him when their eyes met, or than growl in his voice that was directed at his enemies. Even surrounded by family, she wouldn't be able to handle it. Fairy Tail was her family, but not without Natsu.

She vowed to fix this, to not be stupid and scared when he arrived, to be mature and apologetic, to be courageous and strong. As seconds passed, though, Lucy was beginning to lose her nerve. She didn't know why that minute hand was creeping by so excruciatingly _slowly_. By the time he got here, her resolve would be so fractured that she might jump out the window at the sound of the door bell. In fact, it really didn't seem like such a bad idea right now…

_No, you can do it, Lucy. You've pulled through worse,_ the summoner chided herself in stubborn determination. There were five minutes left until one o'clock. She just had to stay strong and keep herself from avoiding this.

Of course, that was a lot easier said than done. She had to consciously stop herself from getting up and pacing around the room, and she had even stood up involuntarily a couple of times before she realized what she was doing. Her eyes were constantly darting back and forth from the window to her bookshelf; one would help her escape from reality and the other would literally help her escape. They were unbelievably tempting, but she held herself back from those too. Natsu wasn't backing out. She wasn't going to either.

The big hand of her clock edged closer to the twelve. Her palms started getting sweaty and her heart rate was growing ridiculously high. Why'd she have to be so scared? Why couldn't she just stand strong and face her fears without shaking like Plue?

Lucy refused to let her hands tremble anymore. She closed her eyes, breathing in and out deeply in an attempt to calm herself. She was not afraid of the doorbell. She was not afraid of seeing him. She was not afraid of what he might say. _She was not afraid._

"What're you doing?"

The spirit mage shrieked at the sound of the voice, opening her eyes as she scrambled backwards to the headboard. She grabbed a random key off her waist on her key ring and held it up at the intruder. Her body was pumped up on adrenaline in a second and she was reading to fight, despite being completely freaked out only moments ago.

However, finding Natsu standing there with a picnic basket was really not what she expected.

She dropped her battle stance abruptly, unsure of whether she should be relieved that there was no threat or exasperated by the extremely anticlimactic moment. Instead, she settled for sinking onto her bottom and letting out a tired groan.

"Mavis, Natsu, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Lucy asked him, momentarily forgetting that he was still supposed to be mad at her.

"I always come in here by myself. I thought you were used to it."

"Well, I _am_. It's just, today…" _is a little different than usual_, the blonde finished in her head. The two of them going on a date was _definitely_ different. She supposed she had just expected the doorbell to ring _because_ this was a date. Breaking into her home was a rather unorthodox method of picking her up.

Of course, now that she considered this, she remembered just how unorthodox this man was. This was the same guy who ate a piece of a tower to rescue his comrades. What was she supposed to expect?

"Never mind," she decided a second later, shaking her head.

It was then that she finally realized that she was in the very situation she'd dreaded for the last few hours. The summoner stole a peek of his face to see how he was faring right now. He wasn't cheerful like he usually was, but he didn't seem as steamed as he had been earlier. He was calm…but did he really want to be here?

"Natsu, do you actually want to be here?" she asked reluctantly, receiving a surprised look in return. She'd caught him off guard there, but what was so surprising about her considering his desires too? "I know you're angry and you don't want to see me—"

Suddenly his hand was over her mouth, cutting off her words and glancing down at her with a hard look. She stared into his hardened eyes, her own wide and her hands supporting her body between her knees.

"Stop talking," he commanded sharply, though his hand covering her mouth didn't actually give an opportunity to disobey. "I'm mad, yeah, but you're still my friend. I'll get over it." Natsu retracted his hand, folding his arms over his chest, eyes turning in another direction. "I just…don't wanna get into it today."

Her chest tightened considerably and the blonde bit back on the emotion that threatened to spill from her. She'd hurt him and she didn't even know _how._ He'd pushed her away and she didn't know _why_. That confusion from the night before surfaced again and any courage she had managed to build up was promptly washed away.

"Hey," the dragon slayer started gently when he saw her, lifting her chin with his knuckle, "don't cry…"

She wasn't so sure she could stop herself though. She couldn't even fathom how he could be so _nice _when he was so angry with her. With an enemy, his rage would never be so easily pushed way, but for her…he didn't want to hurt her. He didn't want to hurt her just because she'd hurt him. He wanted her to be _happy_. How in Earthland…had she only fallen in love with him now?

"Lucy! I'm sorry I'm late! I—oh, whoops…"

Natsu took a swift step backwards and Lucy's head snapped to the side. She was greeted with the sight of her lion spirit who looked rather dishevelled and slightly taken aback.

"Loke…?" The celestial spirit mage slid off her bed to examine the strawberry blond. He was attempting to straighten out his mane and tie even as she approached him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, you called for me—at least, subconsciously you did, but you're obviously not in any danger," Loke explained pointedly.

"What about your clothes?" she questioned at the sight of his half-open shirt.

The celestial spirit cleared his throat and abruptly went about re-buttoning his top. "Aries and I, uh, were kinda in the middle of something."

Natsu sputtered. Lucy's face burned.

"Yeah…" Loke trailed off, finally completing his mission in making himself presentable as his eyes drifted over to where the basket was still hanging in the rose-haired male's hand. His eyebrow lifted before he looked back and forth between the two mages. "Wait a minute…are you two going on a date?"

"I guess," Natsu answered, shrugging.

"And you _attacked_ her instead of knocking on the door?"

"I didn't attack her! I came in like I always do! _She _was the one who—"

"So you broke into her house on your first date? Jeez, Natsu—"

"I didn't—"

"—you're lucky I'm here to run interference!" Leo decided with a grin. He grabbed Natsu's arm roughly and jerked the dragon slayer toward the stairs. "Lucy, sorry about this guy. Don't worry; I'll fix this right away!"

Lucy opened her mouth to speak, but never got the words out as both males retreated from her room within seconds. Instead, she stood there dumbfounded, the sound of the front door opening and closing resonating from downstairs.

Well…apart from the oddness of everything, at least that had gone better than she'd expected. Natsu was still her friend and was treating her _well_ despite how furious he was. The summoner really didn't know how he did it. What she _did_ know was that she was going to find out what she did to hurt him and that she would make it up to him somehow. That would be an investigation for another day though. If he didn't want to discuss it today, Lucy wasn't going to say anything. She wasn't going to take the chance of pushing him like she sort of had this morning.

At that moment, the doorbell rang much like it should have about twenty minutes earlier. Lucy briefly wondered exactly what her lion spirit had told her partner. She shook it away, however, as she went to open her front door. She'd find out soon enough.

When Lucy pulled her door open, a rather poor-looking flower was shoved in her face. It was pink tulip with petals that looked rather limp and a stem that was an unhealthy shade of pale green.

"Hi," Natsu said robotically from behind the dying plant, "I brought you this flower because you were once as beautiful as it."

She wasn't sure whether she was supposed to be flattered or insulted as she took the really depressing…thing…from his grasp, a fairly loud groan coming from the side.

"Damn it, Natsu, you were supposed to say 'it was once as beautiful as _you_'!" Loke shouted in exasperation, stepping out from hiding before he glanced at the summoner quickly. "Sorry, Lucy. This was the best I could do on such short notice."

The blonde nodded dumbly as the pyromaniac retaliated. "Well, that whole thing seemed stupid to me."

"_I'm_ the expert here! It's not stupid! Flattery makes girls happy!"

"Are you sure? Lucy doesn't look very happy!"

"That's because you did it wrong!"

"Um, guys…" Lucy cut in nervously. "Can we just eat? I'm getting hungry…" A half lie. She really _was_ getting a bit hungry, but she seriously just wanted them to stop. The whole thing was rather unnecessary and ridiculous.

"Right, right, just go. This guy is hopeless anyway," the lion spirit sighed, Natsu fuming in turn. "Natsu, don't screw the rest of this up!"

The dragon slayer simply muttered something under his breath as Loke disappeared back to the Spirit World. The blonde felt relieved that at least _that_ was over. She'd expected her date to go wrong; just not in this way.

"Let's go then," the fire mage stated, grabbing onto her wrist and dragging her away. She scarcely had enough time to close the door, eh was rushing her so much.

"What's the hurry?" she asked, stumbling to catch her balance as he pulled her along.

"The sun's high right now. That's when it looks best," he responded, though Lucy had no clue as to what he was referring to. Whatever it was, she had an inkling that she was going to enjoy it.

* * *

"It's beautiful…" Lucy breathed in awe. It was taking her more than a few moments to draw in her current surrounding. "How…did you find this place?"

Said place was in the corner of Sakura Park within a cluster of bushes. Of course, because it was spring, the trees were in full bloom and the park was filled with pink cherry blossoms. Coupled with the privacy of their little clearing, it was the perfect date spot to have a picnic. Maybe Natsu had some good taste after all.

"I was just looking somewhere quiet to sleep once," he told her, laying down a red blanket that he'd pulled from his basket of goodies.

_Typical Natsu_, she thought with a smile. The stellar spirit mage held out her hand and watched petals dance around her fingers slowly, like feathers across her skin. She…she missed this. It was so nostalgic, bringing her back to the days when she still lived at home. It was one of the few great memories she had, dancing in the courtyard by the _sakura_ tree, feeling the storm of blossoms around her.

"You said you were hungry, right?"

Lucy snapped from her reverie to see a delicious-looking sandwich being held out to her. For a second, she actually thought that maybe her partner had made it himself, but upon further inspection, the blonde could tell that it was one of Mirajane's creations. Mira's food was unmistakable and the thought of Natsu cooking actually frightened her a little bit.

Silence grew between the pair as they ate. Lucy wouldn't go so far as to say that the tension and awkwardness was suffocating, but it certainly was uncomfortable. Fortunately for her, she was so busy reminiscing that whatever was in the air didn't bother her too much. All the same, it wouldn't be good if Natsu spent their entire time together feeling out of place and bitter, so she decided it would be better to share her memories.

She swallowed the last of her sandwich and leaned back on her hands, legs straightened and relaxed as she stared up at the clear sky filled with blossoms. The blonde held one hand out to catch some as they fell. "My mom…used to always bring me to the _sakura_ tree in the courtyard of our old house."

The dragon slayer glanced at her curiously, though he didn't say a word and continued to chew his food. Lucy took this as a sign to carry on.

"She used to tell me that the blossoms were like our happiness; beautiful and bright, but never forever. The petals would fall and rot and the world would feel dark and desolate." The stellar spirit mage closed her hand around some of the petals. "Spring always comes though, eventually, and the flowers return like our smiles. I remember thinking that it made the cherry blossoms so much more special, but then my mom told me something else.

"She told me that it wasn't the blossoms that were special, but the _tree_. A tree...it can't make it through all those seasons if it isn't strong, and if a tree is strong, it must have very supportive roots. Mama never explained that part to me before, but when I came to Fairy Tail, I think I finally got the meaning behind what she was saying."

Lucy smiled lightly at the ground, an image of Layla Heartphilia appearing in her mind. Her mother had taught her so many precious lessons that she had never really been able to comprehend as a child, but she cherished them now.

"Your mom…sounds smart," Natsu stated simply.

"She really was," the blonde replied nostalgically, letting go of the petals she'd caught within her grasp.

Natsu looked at her quizzically, mimicking her position as he leaned back onto his hands. "You don't like talking about your mom, so why are you telling me about her?"

"You're right; I don't like to share my mom with anyone. I'm selfish like that," she explained before she turned to him with a warmth thrumming through her body, "but if it's you, it's okay."

He kind of looked stunned when she said those words, and hopefully, in the same way he had placed his faith in their friendship, he would understand that she was doing the same thing. For some reason, it felt infinitely good to have told someone of a memory she had of her mother, and whatever awkwardness she'd been feeling earlier was gone.

Mostly relaxed now, Lucy fell onto her back and closed her eyes, breathing the clean air in deeply. She was probably enjoying this date way more than she was supposed to. She heard a _thump_ next to her and found that her partner had once again mimicked her movements.

"So is this what a date is like?" Natsu asked airily.

"Sort of," she responded honestly. For herself, she hadn't ever been on a date like this one. It was always some restaurant or a show or some form of shopping. Today was more personal for her than she'd ever experienced on a simple outing. Natsu had never struck her as romantic either, but he was proving to have pretty at it, even if it was unintentional. "How are you liking it so far?"

"S'okay, I guess," the fire-eater answered. "What about you?"

"It's different," Lucy whispered breathily, a soft breeze dancing over them and creating a flurry of blossoms in the air. "It's…good."

Silence again, but for a completely different reason. The stellar spirit mage nearly jumped out of her skin when his pinky touched hers, and anything she might've said was instantly forgotten. She'd been so calm and relaxed that the contact had really taken her by surprise. Luckily, she hadn't moved quite so much that she had pulled her partner out of his half-slumber. Turning her head to look at him, she saw his eyes partially closed and his chest rising and falling slowly. He seemed so peaceful, as if he didn't have a worry in the world…

As if…he wasn't _mad_.

It bothered her because he'd said he'd get over it, but that wasn't a solution; it was a cop out. He wanted to ignore it and wait for it to go away and he would pretend like it had. Lucy knew, though, that every time he looked at her, he would remember that she hurt him, and he would never be able to think of all the times they'd laughed together or when she'd taken care of him or when they protected each other. All he'd be able to think of was the pain, and eventually, he'd grow to resent her.

She knew. She and her father had done the exact same thing.

Her father had grown solitary and cold after her mother died, and Lucy had been so hurt by his change in attitude (because she'd _needed_ him) that she had rebelled. In turn, he had fought to control her and a cycle of spiteful battles took place until she finally ran from home. She hadn't ever bothered thinking about her dad's pain because she'd been so infuriated by his selfishness, just in the same way her father had focused on her rebellion and fell blind to her need for affection. All those memories of loving each other had just been replaced by hate and rage, something the celestial spirit mage regretted to this day. His passing before they could mend their shattered relationship only made her remorse stronger and Lucy knew that there was no way she could let the same thing happen with Natsu.

Unable to stop her anxiousness, Lucy sat up, biting her lip. "I can't, Natsu. I'm sorry. I-I know you said you didn't want to talk about it today, but I _can't_."

The dragon slayer lifted himself into a sitting position as well, eyes no longer clouded with drowsiness. He grimaced and she could tell that he really didn't want to let her continue. "Lucy…"

"I need to say this, Natsu," she pleaded, almost desperately. The thought of losing Natsu the same way she'd lost her father shook her to the core. The blonde knew she had to do what she could to solve this problem.

That was why she could've thanked every higher being when Natsu gave her the briefest of nods.

His eyes pierced into her and she swallowed. "I'm-I'm sorry. Yesterday, I didn't mean to hurt you," Lucy apologized, pausing momentarily as she spotted the tightness in his jaw. Nevertheless, she forced herself to keep going. "I just thought…that-that maybe you felt for me…the same way I feel…about…you…"

He didn't reply and she couldn't bear to look at him anymore. All that anxiety had finally built up and she didn't really know what to do with it, so words just began pouring out of her endlessly. "I mean, I thought maybe I was your mate—or-or that you liked me as more than a friend because you hugged me too, and-and your heart was beating so fast, and for a second, I was confident that—"

"What did you say?"

She shut her mouth abruptly and looked at him, terrified. The summoner had never rambled so much in her entire life. She wasn't even sure of exactly what he was referring to after everything she'd just admitted.

"You…you have feelings for me?" the dragon slayer elaborated, visibly conflicted by her confession. "But you didn't say anything…"

"Say…?" Well, she hadn't really had to. It was common belief that actions spoke louder than words.

…Oh, wait, it was _Natsu_. Lucy shakily realized that to _him_, she'd jumped from trying to prove her point with words to trying to prove her point with actions, when in reality, she'd been trying convey her feelings to him and find out if he would reciprocate. It was no wonder he'd been so angry. If she thought any guy would harass her like that just to prove a point, she would blast him to Hell.

_Oh._

"I…I shouldn't have assumed…" Lucy said in the shock of her revelation. If she had only acted more rationally last night, none of this would have happened! Stupid, stupid Lucy!

She turned back to her equally as dumbfounded friend and stated, "You were right; I _am_ stupid."

Natsu either ignored her words or they didn't even register. "Why…didn't you just tell me instead?"

The blonde pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on one and feeling like an idiot. Well, at least he wasn't mad at her anymore. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to find out like this…"

Another moment of quiet occurred between the pair as the fire mage seemed to be pondering what exactly this all meant while Lucy simply considered what was going to happen next. It definitely wasn't awkward anymore, but her feelings were out in the open now and it was up to Natsu to determine what she was going to do with them. She was _hoping_ for her favourite grin and followed by him returning her feelings, but he was taking a lot longer to process the situation than she expected. Granted, Natsu had little to no experience when it came to girls and emotions like this, so she really couldn't anticipate some sort of grand reaction to her confession. Though he was usually quite a rash person, his silence made it obvious that he didn't know exactly what to do with her words.

"Natsu, can we just forget about last night?" she asked softly. "It shouldn't…have been like that."

He gave her a skeptical look, like he no longer _wanted_ to forget it, but nodded nonetheless. "Alright… But…now what?"

"Just enjoy the view," the stellar spirit mage told him as she leaned on his shoulder. That was something she'd always done in their platonic relationship, and he let her today as well, watching the sun move across the sky and the blossoms fall from the trees.

Tranquility sank in as time pass slowly, yet comfortably. Some pairs would never be able to find a comfortable place among all the things that had happened between them, but the dragon slayer and the celestial spirit mage had always been more than friends and less than lovers. They'd always been unconventional together.

"Hey, Natsu?" Lucy started finally.

"Hn?"

"I'm in love with you."

His face turned red and he looked rather speechless, despite pretty much already knowing what she'd just said. Still, this was the way it should've been. Maybe that was why he looked so nervous and uncertain all of the sudden.

"I, uhm, thanks…?"

The blonde suppressed a groan, pressing her face against his bicep in exasperation. It wasn't as though she'd been expecting a lot, but _still_.

"Natsu, if I'm stupid, then you've got to tell me what _you_ are."


	16. On the Line, Looking Back

**Author's Note:**Hey guys. Once again, I took forever, but here's the new chapter! I'm as happy with it as I'm going to get, so hopefully you guys enjoy it at least a little. Everyone, thank you so much for all the wonderful feedback. I am grateful that anyone at all bothers to use time and write me a review, so thank you again.

...By the way, does anyone have some cover art (preferably fan art) for me? I definitely won't be doing it myself. Lol.

Now, it's 1:30 AM and I have class for three hours tomorrow and then eight hours of work, so I'm going to go pass out now. I just know I'm going to regret my horrible editing job in my rush to get this up tomorrow. Please enjoy!

* * *

_**Possession**_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 16 – _On the Line, Looking Back_**

* * *

He hadn't figured out what she meant that day, but he _did_ know she'd confessed to him.

Lucy had confessed to him.

Well…_that_ was nice.

Natsu's fear of unrequited feelings was now gone. Lucy had told him that she had feelings for him—had ended up _kissing_ him because of them—and it was real. It was the truth. The celestial spirit mage would never lie about something like that. In fact, he actually felt a little guilty about believing in the worst of her before. The fire-eater recognized that…_maybe_ being angry with her had been a bit easier than accepting that her kiss had meant something more. He'd been so eager to believe in the conclusion he'd made up that he hadn't considered any other possibility even though Lucy was his best friend and he knew her better than anyone. He'd chosen not to believe in her and he was a scumbag for it.

Of course, that wasn't really something he could dwell on because the past was the past. Natsu was a firm believer in the future, so he promised himself that he would never think so lowly of the woman he loved ever again. Mistakes were simply opportunities for learning, so learn he would.

Sitting in his room at a hotel for the night, the rose-haired male stared at the wall, thinking of the girl who was in the room adjacent to his. She was probably napping, having used much of her magic that afternoon helping to move the shipments of fireworks from the harbour to the town square. It was a simple mission for him, but Lucy had very little of her own muscle strength, so she'd summoned Loke, Taurus, and Virgo to contribute extra. While it'd meant less work for Natsu, it had caused the blonde a lot of stress. It wasn't an easy task for one person to get Loke to stop hitting on girls, Taurus to quit staring down females' shirts, and Virgo to stop attempting to punish herself for trivial matters. Lucy was a very, very talented magician. She really was admirable.

If only he knew what to do about this whole "love" thing. Now that he knew of her feelings, it was probably okay if he just went and told her his own. If what Igneel had told him as a child was anything to go by, then at that point, they'd go riding off into the sunset on some sort of large animal before proceeding to have lots of sex and babies.

At least, that was what Igneel said mated life was like (and Natsu briefly wondered how accurate that information was because his father had definitely not been mated).

Still, there were a few more complications than that. First and foremost was that, while there was a newfound faith he held in Lucy, he feared he was just going to become another one of "those guys" she went through on her "list of potential candidates". No matter how close they were and no matter how deeply they understood each other, he and Lucy would always be the difference between night and day. They certainly didn't have a whole lot in common or have similar tastes. _He wasn't the type she liked._ He knew that well enough from all those guys he'd watched her date in the past. If those dudes were any sort of hint as to the kind of man Lucy liked, then, no offence to her, she seemed to really like blond, self-absorbed pretty-boys, and Natsu was not _any_ of those things. Yes, he'd be loyal to her for the rest of his life, but what if she suddenly decided that they no longer made sense anymore? What if they broke up and he was left with all these feelings he was supposed to move on with? He didn't get to move on. He wasn't allowed to find another.

It wasn't in his nature to be afraid or even to _think_ about decisions, yet here he was defying the traits that had been his own for years. There were rarely times that he felt fear, but there was no denying that this was one of them. He didn't know what to do with an emotion that made him feel like this. He was lost.

On top of that, he still couldn't figure out what he'd done wrong after her confession to make her call him dumb—not that she'd been angry at him for whatever it was, but her reaction to his words hadn't exactly been desirable. Well…was there something you were _supposed_ to say after a girl said something like that to you? He hadn't thought Happy would know, seeing as the cat would have learned all romantic knowledge from Natsu, and Natsu sure as hell didn't know much about anything to do with his current situation. Gray might, since a lot of girls seemed to like the ice mage…or it at least looked like that from the amount of times he'd seen Gray reject girls (it was either that or Gray really seemed to take some sort of sadistic pleasure from making girls cry). Obviously pride prevented Natsu from asking _that_ guy for advice—not to mention that the stupid stripper probably wouldn't say anything useful anyhow. Natsu refused to even consider that the ice bastard could be more talented than him in any area whatsoever.

Gajeel was always the obvious candidate when it came to these kinds of situations since they shared the same…boundaries as dragon slayers. That came with a sort of unspoken brotherhood that Natsu had never had with the other males in the guild. There was a trust there that both of them understood. Any dragon slayer related issues were welcome, and girls were included. Besides that, Gajeel always seemed like he knew what he was doing when it came to his mate. Then again, he might also comment on how absolutely _dumb_ Natsu was, and the pyromaniac was kind of tired of that, so maybe Gajeel was a bad idea.

The actual _good_ option was mostly likely Loke, despite his failure in improving the date he had accidentally interrupted last time. The lion spirit was a natural lady's man and he really did know Lucy pretty well. Putting those two things together could only be a positive for Natsu, right? Loke would mostly certainly know what the dragon slayer had done wrong and the spirit would be a little more humble about Natsu's ignorance too. The problem _there_ was that Lucy was the only who possessed the power to open the gates from the Spirit World, and so access to the strawberry-blond was not only very limited, but usually monitored too. So…yeah, that wasn't happening.

And he wasn't even going to consider talking to a girl about this—especially after what happened the _last_ time a female (whose name began with a "W") meddled in the affairs of his love life. No. Just no.

If only he understood what it all meant…

There was a knock at the door, followed by a, "Natsu! Open up!"

He blinked twice before getting up to answer it. It was Lucy's voice on the other side, a bit of a surprise since he'd been certain she was going to pass out for the rest of the night after having completed their duties for the mission. It was only eight now, meaning she'd slept for about two hours—an inadequate amount of rest for someone suffering from magical exhaustion. Natsu suddenly felt a little worried.

However, he opened the door to see a rather refreshed-looking blonde standing there with a large box at her feet. There were a bunch of fireworks inside—hadn't they already delivered those?

"I know what you're thinking, but the client just came by my room a minute ago saying he didn't need these ones for his show. He said we could use them before the show at nine if we want," Lucy explained as she pushed the box toward him with her foot. "I know you love this stuff."

The last statement almost didn't register because he'd been too busy thinking about how he had free access to a box of _fireworks_, and _hell yeah_, he loved them. They were loud explosives that made people smile. What wasn't to like? And he would get to light them with _Lucy_.

What a day with was turning out to be.

He couldn't resist the grin crawling onto his face. All worries momentarily forgotten, Natsu grabbed both his partner and the box before running down to where the town's dock was located. The rose-haired male began lining up various sorts of fireworks between the boards of the wood immediately, already having fun.

"I hope I don't end up regretting taking those fireworks," the blonde said nervously, eying the row of eight explosive he'd set to launch in the sky.

Natsu lit the fireworks with a swipe of his flame-covered hand before the pair stepped back and let the rockets fly. He grinned, watching explosions of blue, red, and yellow illuminate the sky, taking profound satisfaction out of the bursts of radiance. He turned to look at his partner, who was staring at him amusement. She didn't see how blowing stuff up was just so utterly _delightful_ and he pitied her for it. It didn't seem fair that he was having all the fun while she just got to stand there and watch. _She_ was the one who had offered him this opportunity in the first place.

He pulled the biggest firework out of the box and held it out to her in offering, to which she responded with a peculiar look. "You started it," the pyromaniac stated. "You have to at least _try_ it."

Lucy was a summoner, so it wasn't that surprising that she was so reluctant to be the one to cause an explosion. That was something she usually left up to her spirits, or if she were using a spell, it wasn't anything quite so…fiery. Still, she gave a small sigh and took the object from his hands.

"I don't see what's so special about this," she grumbled grudgingly. The celestial spirit mage pulled out a matchbox from their stash, simultaneously setting the explosive in an upright position between the boards of wood so that when fired, it would launch into the sky. She scraped the head of the match across the igniting surface, a small flame emerging from it as she moved to light the fuse. Natsu had to admit that watching Lucy play with fire was…kind of arousing. Fire was his element; he liked the idea of Lucy being a part of it too.

Man, what was he thinking _now_?

"Here we go," Lucy announced, lighting the fuse before hastily shaking out the match and stepping back beside Natsu.

He was honestly only really interested in what her reaction would be like to her first time setting off a firework. Right now, she seemed rather indifferent about it, though curious as well. Lucy voluntarily blowing stuff up… The dragon slayer never thought he'd see the day. He stared at the rod in anticipation—wait, why was it aimed at him now?

Natsu's eyes widened, pouncing on top of Lucy just as the firework launched over them and into the roof of a house, exploding in a plethora of gorgeous colours and effectively destroying the cover of the house. The duo stared blankly at the display as it began to die out and debris from the roof came tumbling down.

It was nothing new for him, but Lucy had never been responsible for damages to a town on a mission before. The fire mage glanced at her and found her visage to be a _priceless_ image. Her eyes were bugging out and her mouth couldn't be closed if she tried. She'd just blown up a roof.

Lucy Heartphilia had blown up a roof.

Natsu began to laugh.

She spun on him, face red with terror. "Why are you laughing? This is serious! I—I—"

"YOU DAMN KIDS! THAT'S MY HOUSE!" a chubby man heading toward them screamed.

Lucy looked completely lost. Natsu couldn't help but find humour in this whole thing. The _one_ time he didn't leave a single mark of devastation on a town during a mission, _Lucy_ did. Perhaps they were more alike than he thought.

Still laughing, he grabbed the celestial spirit mage's hand and _ran_, the chubby man racing after them as Lucy staggered along.

She pulled back against his grip. "N-Natsu! This isn't right! We should take responsibility! We'll pay! He'll understand! He'll be reasonable!"

The fire-eater stole a peek back at the raging man and grinned at his partner. "He doesn't look so reasonable!" he called to her, still running and enjoying this experience way more than he should. "Besides, haven't we done this before?"

His eyes met hers, and comprehension passed between them. The male nearly tripped as her mouth crept into a smile, regaining his balance just as her own laugh rang out behind him.

* * *

It was pitch black by the time they finally stopped running and collapsed somewhere outside the town in an open field, both laughing with whatever ounce of energy they had left after such a long chase. Natsu had no idea where they were or exactly where they'd run, but he was having too much fun too even care.

Fun, huh… He finally remembered what it was like to feel carefree, when the burden of feelings of love and lust didn't sit upon his shoulders. It was a time when he thought of Lucy as a friend and _only_ a friend, albeit a very close one. Nevertheless, it was also a time where he could have fun with her, free of worries and fears—like just now.

Natsu rolled onto his butt and stole a glance at her quickly, the girl panting and crawling to a sit, but he could still see the remains of a smile on her face.

…He would give anything to back to that time.

"I can't believe we just did that," she said, taking deep breaths.

"What else could we do? You blew up his roof," the fire mage pointed out.

"I _know_," Lucy groaned in humiliation. "I could've sworn it was secure between the boards! I feel horrible!"

"I'm proud. Your first time destroying someone's property!" he responded cheerfully with genuine feeling.

"You don't have to keep bringing it up," the blonde replied grouchily.

Oh, but he did! He honestly _did_ take pride in what she'd done, and it was generally just a hilarious thing all around. "But I didn't wreck anything this time, and you blew up a roof."

"Stop, _please_," she whined, shaking him gently.

"You blew up a roof," he teased her, poking her in the ribs.

"Natsu!" With the way she was begging him to stop, she should have had fake tears of torment running down her face.

"And you were the good one," he continued with a smirk.

"Ugh!" the stellar spirit mage groaned as she buried her face in her hands.

See? These were the great times he missed. These were the times where he could just make fun of her and have a stupid conversation. Why did everything have to change? Why did he have to want to kiss her all the time? Or want to hold her body close to his own? Why did he have to wish for her love in return?

Why…did he have to love her at all? Why wasn't it his choice?

"It's starting to get cold. Maybe we should head back?" Lucy suggested, fully recovered from his ruthless teasing.

Cold? Oh, right. Sometimes he forgot how fragile other humans were when it came to the weather. Natsu hadn't even thought twice about going out of the town when they'd been trying to escape the chubby man. It hadn't seemed like such a big deal, but the fact that it was late in the evening and that the nights were still cold completely slipped his mind. Lucy had been running around in shorts and a tank top all day too. Of course she'd been getting cold.

"Didn't you want to watch the firework show though?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Well, I'd rather miss it than catch a cold. Missing missions means missing rent money," she reasoned, getting to her feet.

Quickly, he stood up with her. "Wait," he demanded, his arms sliding around her waist from behind.

She froze.

He froze.

Uh, what…the hell?

He'd only meant to grab her arm and stop her from going, because he was more than capable of keeping both of them warm…yet something inside of him had screamed that she was vulnerable and that she needed his protection. She was cold. His arms could keep her warm. It was natural instinct that had led him to this.

The summoner turned her head to look at him. "Natsu?"

The dragon slayer knew that he could just let go right now, but the position they were in truly _did_ allow him to provide her the warmth she needed. In fact, he didn't think there was a _better_ position for which he could share his body heat. Didn't it make more sense just to keep going along with this?

"I… I'll keep you warm," he assured her, only moving his head to meet her glance.

She gave him a soft smile. "Okay."

Natsu sat down cross-legged, pulling the female mage into his lap as he increased his body temperature a little bit. She didn't say anything as she leaned back against him, the side of her head gently pressed against his own. He didn't say anything either, though his arms were wrapped firmly around her torso. They sat in silence as the fireworks started.

The fire-eater gazed upon the beautiful display, but his mind was elsewhere. He was right back where he'd started this morning, getting all mixed up in his feelings because he'd just proven exactly why things had to change.

At that moment, there was nothing sexual about their situation except attraction. He wasn't sure why, but all those raging hormones had calmed down quite a bit and it allowed the fire mage to think about his emotions more clearly. Maybe it was from all that emotional turmoil? Well, whatever it was, it was helping.

Sitting like this, together…it wasn't even close to just being about attraction and lust anymore. He'd been so angry when he'd thought she had just disregarded his feelings and he'd felt so ridiculously happy when she'd confessed to him. This was the moment that resulted from all of it, and honestly, he wanted more moments just like it. He wanted those moments when he kissed her, touched her, and held her. He wanted those moments when she called him her everything. He wanted the moment when he claimed her and shared his magic with her.

That was why things had to change. That was why he wouldn't give a thing to go back. He loved her so much that nothing else even mattered.

But that was the problem. Love made him feel that way when there were so many things that_ did_ matter. He couldn't treat this like it was nothing. He couldn't treat this like an experiment.

In the beginning, it was true that this had been a matter of friendship for him, but they'd walked right past that barrier the moment Lucy confessed. Heck, Natsu was pretty sure that they'd _stretched_ the barrier well beyond its limits and it had only been broken recently, but the fact of the matter was that she'd crossed the line and now they were situated somewhere between the "best friends" and "lovers" areas. He couldn't possibly be afraid of crossing that line anymore since it'd already been crossed.

No, the real problem now was whether or not the dragon slayer should continue forward. The point of no return was close by—close enough that one could say he was straddling the line—but he was just so _afraid_. Right now, he could still go back into the friend zone. The fire-eater didn't need to venture any further into such a dangerous area where temptation existed everywhere. He wanted to move forward, but it wasn't safe there; it was pretty much a suicide mission.

If he went through with telling her his feelings and made that switch in their relationship, there were so many uncertain possibilities. First off, Lucy had already changed him so much. If he got closer to her than he already was, how much more would he change? Today he'd realized that he'd forgotten about having fun, once the pinnacle of his life. What if being with her meant losing himself? That…that just wouldn't be right. He couldn't imagine being another person entirely. No, never.

Besides that, he liked what they already had. Before the subject of _love_ had come into the picture, they'd had hardly any fights. _After_ such feelings had come into play, they'd had plenty of uncomfortable moments, small conflicts, and one _huge_ misunderstanding. That wasn't a good thing in his book, so just staying friends looked more and more appealing. The fire mage didn't understand how hugging and kissing overshadowed that horrible feeling he'd had when he'd thought Lucy held no regard whatsoever for his feelings. There was absolutely no way.

The thing that scared him the most, though, was going forward only to end up in Lucy's pile of exes. He'd thought of it earlier and he was thinking about it now. He wasn't in too deep yet; he would still be able to tolerate that dull pain he experienced when he thought of the stellar spirit mage with another man, but he most definitely wouldn't if he let himself open up to her. He knew he'd only fall deeper into her enchantment should he allow it, and if they were to end it… Natsu knew he wouldn't recover. Lucy always had the option of moving on, but he didn't. What would he do if he went ahead with this relationship, ended up heartbroken and then had to watch her with a new man? How would it _feel_?

That was why it mattered. That was why he couldn't cross that line.

Nevertheless, she deserved to know how he felt about her when she had so candidly confessed her own feelings, right? That wasn't any less frightening, though, because admitting to her that he felt the same way could be what pushed him past the point of no return, and when that occurred, what happened to their friendship?

But…she deserved to know. He had an obligation to tell her.

"Lucy, I…" the dragon slayer started, attempting to force the words out even when he wasn't exactly how to form a cohesive sentence when it came to this stuff.

"You're shaking," the blonde replied in return, a worried look upon her visage as she turned to look at him.

True to her words, he _was_ shaking. He'd never been so scared in his life about _anything_, but he had to do it. He owed it to Lucy to say what he was feeling. "I have to tell you…how I feel. I have to…"

"No, you don't," she cut him off with an understanding smile. "Don't say anything you aren't ready to say."

In that one smile, Natsu could see that she understood. She really did and she was giving him the time he needed to sort out what he wanted to do with his feelings. She…she was wonderful. She…was the only one he could love like this.

"I'm glad you convinced me to stay. The fireworks are beautiful," she stated, gazing up into the lighted sky.

He buried his face into the bend of her neck and shoulder, wishing that he were stronger than this, wishing that he wasn't such a coward. "I'm sorry."

The fire mage felt Lucy entwine his right hand with her own and press her lips against its back. He could feel her smiling against his skin as another burst of colour flashed overhead.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," she mumbled into the back of his hand, and he held her closer because he was afraid of everything—of changing, of falling further, of wanting her this much.

He was afraid, so held onto what he had in his arms on this night, in his life, in this moment.


	17. Belief

**Author's Note: **Oh hi, it's a chapter. So yeah, I've been busy busy busy, but I managed to get this done between all my work. If it's not yet obvious, _Possession_ is almost done. There are only a few chapters left, so despite the slowness of updates, it's going to be finished for sure.

Thanks to everyone for their feedback! It's actually amazing to me how well-known in the fandom this story's become. I really appreciate all this support, so thank you again.

This chapter is dedicated to **zippi44** at DeviantArt who was kind enough to create the _gorgeous_ cover you now see for this story. Go check out her other works! The link in in my profile.

**Warning:** Hot stuff coming through. It just happened, I swear.

* * *

_**Possession **_by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 17**_** – Belief**_

* * *

Lucy was steadily learning that her friendship with Natsu was quite an incredible feat. It still baffled her at how they had gone through so much and their current situation wasn't even awkward. True enough, it was rather uncomfortable at times (more for Natsu than herself), but most of the time, they acted like the friends they were. It didn't matter that she'd confessed to him, or that they both knew he had feelings for her. In the end, they were still the same people with the same friendship.

"Did you get the flour?" the blonde asked her partner as she tied the white apron around her back. Natsu was helping her bake a cake for a guild party, mostly because she'd asked him to. It was simple enough and fairly enjoyable for her to bake on her own, considering it was just following directions and baking really reminded her of her mother, but she had invited the dragon slayer because it'd been a while since he'd last broken into her house and, admittedly, she missed it.

The stellar spirit mage understood that though it wasn't awkward, he was still conflicted. There was no way she could fault him for that. Most girls dreamed about their Prince Charming since they were five; Natsu probably hadn't even thought of that kind of thing until it hit him head on. He was the guy that seriously hadn't known that there were other places one could be besides the "friend zone". Of course he was going to be hesitant. Besides _that_, she was really his only choice in the matter.

Lucy wondered how he felt about it. Heck, she wondered if it were actually physically possible to only ever be attracted to one person. She guessed it was related to their upbringing and magical training. Though it seemed to make a lot more sense if that was the case, she couldn't imagine what it would be like. She'd had her fair share of relationships in the past. If there were only one man for her, what if it didn't work out with that guy? What if it were Natsu, her best friend? What if their break up was so bad that any sort of relationship between them was impossible to maintain anymore?

Jeez, no wonder Natsu was so freaked out.

"Here," the dragon slayer replied as he placed the bag of flour on the kitchen counter. "I don't get why you have to make the cake. Isn't Mira a lot better at this stuff?"

She ignored the fact that he'd just insinuated that she was a bad chef since it was likely that thought hadn't even crossed his mind. "Natsu, we're all friends. I want to contribute too. Mira-san shouldn't always have to do so much work. We could help her out more often," the celestial spirit mage answered as she measured out a few cups of the powdery white substance, emptying them into a large mixing bowl.

He rested against the counter, his arms folded on top and his chin resting on his forearms. The rose-haired pyromaniac shot her a stubborn look. "Well, why do I need to be here? I can't even eat the cake yet!"

Lucy shook her head, mixing more dry ingredients into the bowl. "You're such a boy. It's always about food with you. And if it's not about food, it's about fighting."

"Fighting's fun," he retorted effortlessly. "But I still don't see why I have to be here."

She didn't look up as the words came out of her mouth. It was too embarrassing. "Maybe I just wanted you here."

The stellar spirit mage prevent herself from seeing her friend's reaction by staring at the bowl she was now attacking with an electric mixer. It was weird being so honest and open about her feelings with Natsu, but if she wanted him to ever come around, she had to somehow make him understand that she was serious about this—that she wasn't going to just give up and let him walk away. She had to show him that she believed in them together and that she would still be ready when he finally was. She had to show him that despite everything that scared her, she was still going to do this.

"You…didn't have to come, you know," the blonde added softly, pouring the finished batter into a circular cake pan. "I invited you. You said yes."

"…Maybe I just wanted to be here."

She nearly dropped both the bowl and the spatula she'd been holding when that statement hit her ears. Lucy was lucky enough to manage to regain her sense before the objects both slipped out of her grip. Still, she wasn't quite sure if she'd actually heard that or if she had been just imagining it. However, when she glanced at his flushed complexion, she discovered that all of it had indeed been real.

It was more shocking than anything, though there was a part of her internally squealing and spazzing out whilst also completely swooning due to his response. The reality was that Natsu still wasn't prepared to confront the feelings and the attraction they held for each other, so the blonde couldn't figure out why he'd just come out and say that. Regardless, she was grateful he had. The words had left her mouth holding truth and feeling, but the words that came back meant so much more.

The oven beeped loudly and the partners were reminded of exactly what they were doing. Lucy mentally berated herself for getting so lost in thought and for possibly reading too deeply into the dragon slayer's words. Friends liked spending time together and they weren't any different. That crimson face could have just been embarrassment from making such a cheesy comment. Natsu had always been good at motivational friendship speeches, but confessing sentiment? She wasn't quite so sure about that one.

"Hey, are you going to put the cake inside?" he prodded her as he leaned over the counter to examine her, his nose almost touching hers.

Figures that Natsu wouldn't realize how this proximity was affect her now. Lucy could feel the heat burning across her face, pushing him back with the handle of her spatula. "_Yes_. I was just thinking about how long I should leave it in there," she lied in irritation.

He shrugged as she placed the cake pan into the oven. "What now?"

"We have to make icing, of course," the summoner replied, taking out another bowl, though smaller than the last and made of glass.

"It's cake; why do you need to put so much extra stuff on it?"

She was certain that if she slammed her face into the countertop, it would break in half. The blonde was very, very close to regretting her decision to have her astoundingly simple-minded best friend to do this with her.

"It tastes good, okay? Mira puts icing on her cakes all the time, and you like her cake," Lucy retorted in exasperation while she poured icing sugar into the bowl.

"Yeah, I know, but the cake is already good by itself," he insisted while she stirred the components of the icing together. The rose-haired fire mage quickly dipped his finger into the bowl, effectively stealing a bit of the mixture before he licked it away.

"You can make a good thing better," Lucy stated stubbornly, still mixing with her spatula as Natsu stole yet another clump from her bowl.

"You could mess something up too," he pointed out, consuming more icing.

"And what's wrong with that? You like risks," the stellar spirit mage shot back, briefly wondering how the topic about cake and icing had become so important.

"I guess I do," the dragon slayer agreed as his finger approached the bowl yet again.

"So I don't see why you—will you _stop_?—I don't see why you have a problem with it," she sighed, glaring at him for making such a big deal out of something so ridiculous whilst eating one of the components their argument was centered around.

Her partner raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean? I never said I had a problem with it." He reached out and grabbed at the bowl, which Lucy promptly pulled away.

The blonde glanced at him incredulously. "Then why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

"I wasn't. I just asked a question," Natsu stated with a shrug. "I think cake and icing are good together too."

She groaned in frustration and put the bowl back on the counter, leaving it exposed to Natsu's relentless attacks. "Dear Mavis, I don't even know why I bother," the summoner muttered, mostly to herself.

Feeling rather defeated, Lucy walked over to a cupboard to grab a piping bag…if she could even use it after Natsu was done with that bowl. It was probably the hundredth time she asked herself exactly what she saw in this guy, but it was pointless to even start answering that question in her head because she'd come up with a billion reasons _way_ too easily for her liking. Even the ways he irritated her were sort of part of his charm.

Stalking back to the counter with her bag in tow, she snatched the bowl away from the dragon slayer who'd been eating his heart out. There was a bit more than two-thirds of the original amount of icing remained and Lucy found herself feelings slightly mortified by how much sugar her companion had consumed. She was going to count herself lucky that the fire mage didn't get hyper on sugar. He was already quite…spirited.

"What is that?" Natsu asked curiously, eying the instrument she was pouring the icing into. For once, he stopped trying to steal icing from the bowl while she was using it.

"It's a piping bag," she explained as she finished filling the object. "You put the icing in this end, twist it closed, and then squeeze it so it comes out the other end over here." The blonde gestured to the metal end of the bag.

"Can I see?" He appeared to be genuinely fascinated by it, so reluctantly, Lucy handed it to him.

She watched as he lifted it high, examining it on all sides before he closed his hand gently around the bag. A tad of icing emerged from the metal tip. The pyromaniac's eyes widened in amazement.

"This thing is _awesome_," he gaped.

The summoner smiled at his amusement. "Yeah, it's pretty cool. That's how Mira-san decorates her—" She paused midway, glancing at her partner who was now busy piping icing into his mouth. "H-hey! Stop it!"

Natsu stopped long enough to savour and swallow the sugary mixture, smacking his lips in satisfaction. "Wow, we should eat everything like this!"

"Don't eat it all!" she wailed loudly, pouncing to try and take it out of his possession.

He lifted it over his head to put it out of her reach, squeezing the bag unintentionally and causing the icing to rush out of the metal opening. Lucy's eyes widened in horror when she felt the cool substance hit her head—her _hair_.

He grinned. She stopped breathing.

"Natsu!" the celestial spirit mage stormed as she began to flail wildly in horror. "My hair! You—!" She glared when she found that he couldn't stop laughing. Scorned, Lucy swiped at some of the contents that had landed on her head and shoved it onto the dragon slayer's cheek.

She shot him a heated look as he stood stunned for a moment, but it was only a second until his face cracked into a devious grin. Natsu took advantage of the piping bag in his hands and attacked her with more icing. The blonde squealed as it hit her on the shoulder, retaliating by wrenching the now empty bag out of his hand and smudging the icing she'd been hit with on his face.

That was when the real battle started.

The rose-haired male lunged at her, Lucy shrieking in half laughter and half terror. She started to run away, but stumbled. Her partner quickly caught up to her and grabbed her around her waist. Instinctively, the stellar spirit mage rubbed her hair (still saturated with icing) into Natsu's neck and chin while pushing his head away as well as she could with him behind her.

"Ow—hey, that's my eye!" he shouted, letting of her, just managing to smudge some icing on her jaw.

Lucy couldn't do anything but smile as she grabbed the mostly useless piping bag off the floor and opened it, using a hand to gather whatever was left on the inside. The fire-eater was approaching her again, so she decided it was time to go on the offensive. She threw the bag at him while she moved in for the kill. He easily dodged the item that was tossed at his head, but her icing-covered palm landed directly on his nose.

She smirked in satisfaction…until her opponent gripped her wrist tightly.

_W-what is he doing?_ the summoner thought frantically, actually sort of scared of what he was planning. She tried to pull away, but he held firm, and Lucy knew that Natsu was far superior to her when it came to a battle of strength. There was no way to get out of this, and from that dark, arrogant look in his eyes, it was obvious that he was going to make her pay.

Natsu let go of her just as something wet tickled her palm. She let out a cry of disgust, jumping back before cringing and wiping her hand on her attacker's arm.

He'd _licked_ her. He'd used his tongue and licked her hand with a full mouth of saliva. It was just _gross_.

"That's so sick, Natsu! We're not five," Lucy stated, still in slight revulsion. Now, though, she was also a bit disgruntled by the grin on his messy, white face. "I can't believe you resorted to spit."

"You didn't like it?" he mocked her, sticking out his tongue. "Good, cuz I'm gunna get my revenge."

"You started it," she retorted as she prepared to run again.

"Well, now I'm gunna end it and I'm gunna win," the pyromaniac concluded with such a powerful finality in his voice that Lucy just about believed him.

Of course, that didn't mean she was going to give up without a fight.

She bolted behind her dining room table just as Natsu took off behind her. For a minute, they danced around it with the fire mage cutting off her escape routes whenever she attempted to get past him. Eventually, he moved to jump over the table while she hastily dove underneath it (which was no easy feat, considering how low her table was).

However, that was the extent of her escape. As she scurried from below the other side of her table, Natsu easily jumped her. The blonde desperately rolled onto her back to get a better position to fight him off from, but her resistance was futile as he pinned her wrists to the ground on either side of her head. Lucy was on the floor beneath her predator and had no way of breaking free. Really, all this just to disgust her with his saliva again?

_No…_she realized, her heart skipping a beat. She could see it wasn't about that anymore. She could see that as soon as he'd had her on the ground. His dark eyes bore that same fiery intensity that it had on the day he'd kissed her senseless. They were the same as that day he'd nearly killed a guy at the Spring Festival for not respecting her. This time, though, there was a difference from both those times.

On Creation Day, she remembered his need to dominate her—to own her. On the night of the Spring Festival, while he'd been protective, he'd also been possessive. Both times, he'd been reacting to his dragon instincts. Today, there was a control in him that he hadn't had during those times, and although perhaps he had that familiar look in his eyes right now, Lucy could tell that there was neither the urge to dominate or possess. Today, there was just one thing: desire.

Lucy trembled in anticipation, sucking in short breaths as she was drawn into his enticing eyes. They always got her. _Always_. And with him kneeling over her, she couldn't help the delicious thrum of excitement running through her veins.

She shuddered as his tongue ran over her skin, cleaning the surface of the sweet substance. The dragon slayer's lips joined in shortly after, kissing the area gently before he raked his canines softly across her flesh. The summoner was forced to exhale sharply in an effort to keep the moan in her throat from escaping.

This was far from disgusting. It wasn't even remotely repulsive. No, this was sensual. This was hot. This was pleasure and this was torture. This was revenge.

Her mind was hazy as Natsu's mouth made its way up to her neck, leaving a burning trail following behind. The celestial spirit mage tipped her head back in ecstasy to give him more access. He nipped at the area beneath her jaw-line and she could've screamed from the tingling sensation it shot through her body all the way to the very tips of her toes. She was vaguely aware of icing from his nose being transferred to her chin, but it quickly disappeared when he clean it off with another lap of his tongue. Lucy felt her wrists free as a strong hand explored the plane of her flat stomach, though her hands were practically useless anyway; she was too distracted by the lips clearing her skin of the sweet product she'd created that the best the blonde could do was tangle her fingers into his hair.

Why was this happening? Lucy knew how wrong it was to let her partner do this when he was still conflicted about his feelings, but she wasn't strong enough to put a stop to it. How could she deny this when it was what she wanted? Why _should_ she deny it when he obviously wanted this just as much as she did? It took two for an event like this to occur, and two there were. The summoner wasn't the only one in this room.

None of it made the situation any less wrong. Natsu had pretty much surrendered to his instincts while his mind was still in turmoil. It wasn't fair for him to be doing this to her, nor was it fair for her to let him.

But any conviction to push him away vanished because it was then that he stopped. He stared into her eyes as he retracted his hand from beneath her shirt and placed it on the side of her face, thumb brushing her cheek lightly. At that moment, the stellar spirit mage could tell that he was no longer acting on instincts. The dragon slayer that was conscious of his actions was back and it was easy to sense the uncertainty within him. Why though? What had brought him back?

It only took a second for her to realize that the fire mage wanted to kiss her—want to _really_ kiss her—but that was the dividing line for him. Natsu had never willingly chosen to kiss her, and to do so would mean that he'd be accepting her as his lover. Her understanding, though, only caused her heart to beat faster in anticipation.

He continued to stare and she returned the look. What was he going to do? Why did it feel like time was passing so slowly? Lucy could only focus on his answer while the thumping in her chest grew so loud that she could scarcely hear anything else.

The oven beeped and blonde started in surprise, body quaking. She didn't move from her spot though, because Natsu was still hovering over her, wrestling with himself in his mind.

The oven beeped again and he finally sprung to life. The pyromaniac stood slowly, offering her a hand in what she thought was humiliation. She accepted it in response, but disappointment weighed down on her heavily inside. For a second, she'd really believed that he was going to let go of fear and charge head-first into the unknown. That was the Natsu she knew. He wasn't this man who was constantly unsure of himself, even if she couldn't blame him for acting this way. She'd never seen him so confused about something throughout all the time she'd known him.

The oven beeped once more, but it was Natsu's voice that snapped her from her reverie. "I think the cake's done," he prodded her quietly, the look on his face a silent apology.

"Right, right," the female nodded, hurrying back to the kitchen to grab some mitts, face still flushed from excitement.

Trying to calm herself, Lucy quickly removed the cake from the oven and fixated her concentration on her task. Placing the pan on the counter, she cut into it with a knife, watching distractedly as the blade came out clean. It was done. So what now?

Her hair growing stiff and uncomfortable was a reminder that she still had an icing-covered Natsu standing in her kitchen, and while she was now…mostly clean, it was probably logical to help him clean off before she went to have a shower.

Rinsing a cloth, she beckoned the dragon slayer over. He obeyed without a word and his expression was the same one he always wore when he was worried he'd hurt or offended her. Lucy wanted to reassure him that what had transpired was okay. She knew what it was like to let her desires get out of hand.

The celestial spirit mage stabilized herself by holding onto his shoulder as she used her other hand to begin wiping up the result of their sweets fight.

"I have nothing to decorate my cake with now," Lucy stated light-heartedly in attempt to break the tension that was hanging over the room.

"You should've let Mira make it. The party's just a front for your birthday celebration," he admitted, giving up the secret surprisingly easily.

She reeled a bit. "_What?_ Is that why she was so adamant about me not baking this cake?"

The rose-haired male nodded. Lucy groaned.

"I'll just tell her that my cake was eaten by an insatiable dragon slayer," the summoner deadpanned, wiping the last of her creation off Natsu's face and stepping back.

"You have to act surprised. I only told you so you'd stop trying to make your own cake," the male explained. "I would've just eaten all of your cake so Mira could make another one, but I feel kinda sick from all the sugar…"

"Okay, I can sell an act…better than you, anyway."

He blinked at his partner. "What do you mean?"

"You wanted to kiss me," Lucy stated simply as her thought finished the sentence, _and you didn't do a very good job of hiding it._

Natsu looked away abruptly, starting at the cooling cake on her countertop. "Yeah."

"Then why didn't you?" she asked, almost whispering her question, despite how much she wished to hear the answer.

The fire mage looked at her sharply, cake forgotten. "Lucy, we're _friends_; we can't do stuff like that. Or…I dunno how a boyfriend and girlfriend are supposed to be like, but they aren't like us."

"Couples _are_ friends, Natsu, first and foremost. They support each other, just like we do," the celestial spirit mage told him. Did he not understand that?

However, that was when she saw the worry in his face. He knew next to nothing about relationships. He only knew about friendship and _that_ was what he was concerned about, because to Natsu, friendship was the most important thing in the world. He didn't know what a romantic relationship between them would do. The dragon slayer was definitely quite the carefree person, but that only made him cling that much more tightly to the things he did care about.

_He wants to protect us. He doesn't want to let us fall apart._

"No matter what happens, we're always going to be friends," Lucy assured him, catching the tips of his fingers with her own. "Whether you kiss me or never want to again, it won't change what we've made together. I believe in us, Natsu."

His eyes met hers, his visage full of conflict, and all Lucy could do was hope that her words got through to him. The summoner smiled, weaving one hand through his and placing the other on his scarf.

"You just have to believe in us too."


	18. Taking a Chance

**Author's Note: **Hey, everyone. It's been rough, but here it is! Thanks so much to everyone who offered me kind words and support. Honestly, _Possession_'s getting a little old for me, mostly since I've been working on it for so long, so I'm glad it's almost done. Overall, I'm proud of it. There isn't too much left, but this is not the last chapter. Also, I apologize for the insane amount of ellipses in this chapter. xD

The last story of the _Possession_ Series is up! My Levy x Gajeel story, _**Limits**_, is the final installment in the series, so if you're interested, check it out!

Please enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**_Possession_ **by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 18 - _Taking a Chance_**

* * *

The beach was a nice place to be. The sun kept it hot, the guild had gathered, and there was food galore. All in all, it was pretty much a perfect afternoon.

Yeah, perfect…just like the view.

Sometimes he thought that maybe being quiet and observant wasn't so bad compared to his usual activity, especially at times like these. Were he off trying to blow up some male strippers or win some beach volleyball, he wouldn't be able to admire her like this. He wondered if it were wrong to just sit and stare at something that didn't belong to him. Didn't people always stare at the things they wanted? Was it wrong to enjoy watching her put on sunscreen?

Oh jeez, it probably was.

"I can see you staring at her," Happy told him as he rolled around on the towel Natsu was sitting on. The Exceed's fur was wet from playing in the ocean with Charle, Wendy, and Romeo.

"Doesn't matter. Nobody else is going to notice," the fire mage said, pointedly looking at the whole bunch of Fairy Tail members creating chaos on the shore.

Happy gave his "father" a concerned look, his brow wrinkling. "It isn't like you to not do anything."

Natsu put a palm to his forehead stressfully. "I know! It's just… I…I _don't_ know. I keep telling myself that I can tell her, but I just keep thinking…"

The cat placed a paw on the dragon slayer's bare knee. "What?"

"We're friends. What if I do something wrong? What if she changes her mind?" he asked, raising his head to the sky. "I know what it's like to lose and it's easy to stand back up again, but losing her…?"

"But Natsu…" Happy began, "why are you thinking about something that hasn't even happened yet? There's not even a chance that everything your worried about will happen because you haven't given it one."

The rose-haired male blinked. "Huh?"

"Right now, you aren't giving it a chance to happen because you won't give in to your feelings, so you really shouldn't be worried about it," the small Exceed explained.

"I guess you're right. I didn't think about it like that…" Natsu trailed off thoughtfully.

"I'm not done though," the blue cat stated firmly, the fire-eater looking at him in curiosity. "I want you to be happy, Natsu, and if you don't give in to your feelings, you're letting your chance at happiness go too."

The dragon slayer looked at his partner in surprise. This cat, his friend, who he'd watched be born into this world, who he'd watched grow into a mature Exceed…was giving him the wisest advice he'd ever received? There was something horribly weird about this picture.

"I never thought about that. How'd you know?" Natsu asked inquisitively.

"I dunno! I just thought about it. Maybe it was that yummy fish I had this morning," the small feline reasoned in concentration. "Whatever it is, I just know I don't want you to be like this anymore. I…I don't like it."

Natsu took in the words of his friend, not having had very many heart-to-heart talks with him that often. It was usually about fun with them, but the fire mage realized he must be acting really weird if even _Happy_ needed to voice his concerns. It was true that he needed to get out from that annoying place he was stuck in; the rose-haired mage whole-heartedly agree with that. The question was...how?

"I'll figure it out soon, Happy," he told his younger partner, almost as if making a promise. "…Thanks."

The Exceed nodded, a bright smile on his face. "Aye! We're best friends no matter what!"

With that, Natsu was left alone once again. How come he'd never thought about it that way before? He'd been fully operating on "what ifs" that currently couldn't even happen. He had a full range of new possibilities, both good and bad, if he decided to let his feelings guide his decisions, but that was only "_if_".

He always asked himself why he hadn't been this scared before. Yes, he'd been shaking on Tenrou Island when Gildartz had absolutely destroyed him, and he couldn't deny that feeling in his chest when he thought Lucy might have left the guild, but this time…? How did anyone leave himself so out in the open? How did anyone just leave himself so vulnerable to fall victim to pain and the limitations of not being able to let go? How could someone take that risk of falling and never healing from the things in between? This wasn't about saving a friend; this was about losing himself trying to get what he wanted. Somehow, the risk just didn't seem worth it. What was the difference between his happiness as friends and his happiness as a lover?

…That happiness didn't exist in the same way anymore. Even if he just decided to leave things as they were, the dragon slayer knew he'd always wonder what it would be like if he'd chosen the other path. He'd always wonder and he'd always regret it.

Natsu was not a man of regrets. Not even close.

"Hey, what are you doing here all by yourself?"

He looked up, realizing he'd zone out completely while thinking about his problems again. It was kind of ironic that the subject of his thoughts was the one who had snapped him out of it…though it wasn't so unexpected considering how often he thought about Lucy anyway.

"I was just thinking about something," he told her, playing absently with the sand with one hand.

She gave him a confused look. "What? But today's a day to have fun! You never just—" The blonde suddenly reeled in revelation, blinking. "You're thinking about _that_."

He didn't respond, simply sulking as he pouted towards the ground.

"You shouldn't just sit here and think about it. What happened to having fun?" she enquired, dropping to her knees to poke him on the arm. She was wearing a navy bikini, a red logo on the left sides of her two piece—Heart Kreuz or something? Whatever it was, it was causing the fire-eater a lot of trouble. He was having a rather difficult time keeping his eyes on the ground instead of looking at his partner's disturbingly attractive body.

"I have to think about it. You told me how you felt days ago; I can't just ignore it," Natsu replied stubbornly as he grabbed a handful of sand and let it escape between his fingers.

"Yes, you can," the blonde retorted firmly, now slightly flushed. "I told you because that's how I feel and I wanted you to know; I didn't tell you so that you could turn into this weird, quiet guy."

She sighed, shifting over to sit on the blanket and leaning against his side. "Before, maybe you were a little different, but this, Natsu…" The stellar spirit mage cupped his cheek in a hand to pull his face toward hers. "…this isn't you."

It wasn't…?

No, it wasn't. He hadn't really acted like himself in a while. There were flashes of how he used to be, yes, but only when he didn't think about his situation with Lucy. That was when he was carefree, and when he wasn't petrified of the thought of _what could be_.

Where in the world did that carefree guy go?

Lucy let out an exasperated breath, getting to her feet and causing Natsu to jerk forward. That was when he realized that the celestial spirit mage had somehow very sneakily grabbed onto his hand without him noticing. She roughly prodded him to stand, the fire dragon slayer stumbling upright to meet her demands, slightly dumbfounded as to what she was doing.

"I can't believe I have to cheer _you_ up," she muttered, dragging him towards the ocean as he followed in compliance. "I mean, _you_, of all people…"

"Huh…?"

"You and I are going to have some fun!" the writer announced in determination. She marched closer to the water and took Natsu with her, the rose-haired male briefly wondering what the heck was going on in his teammate's head at that moment.

As they splashed into the salty water, she let go of his hand in pursuit of a strange, circular object floating atop the waves. Lucy quickly treaded over to grab it, lifting it up while Natsu cluelessly looked at her.

"What's that?" he asked, staring blankly at the white thing in her hands.

"You don't know what a frisbee is?" the key-user responded in shock.

"I dunno, it looks kinda funny," the fire-mage said, grabbing the "frisbee" from her and examining it in curiosity. It was almost round and was sort of shaped like a saucer, but what was most intriguing was how it was carved like a bowl. How the heck did Lucy think they could have fun with this thing? "Lucy, why do you want to play with a strange bowl?"

She snatched the object back from him in irritation. "It's _not_ a bowl, it's a _frisbee_. You throw it and it flies through the air." The female wrapped her right hand around the rim of the disc into a fist. "See? You hold it like this and…" She extended her arm, snapping her wrist as she let go of the object. It flew a few meters before hitting the water, floating at the surface again while Lucy waded over to retrieve it.

"That thing can fly without magic?" Natsu asked as his partner threw the frisbee to him this time.

She nodded. "Kind of like how Happy flies without flapping his wings, but with spinning."

"Cool…" He grasped the frisbee the same way she had and tossed it back, staring in awe as it floated gently over to where Lucy was standing in the water. The dragon slayer beamed. "That's pretty awesome!"

The blonde grinned. "See? Now you're having fun again! You can't waste a good opportunity to have fun." She threw it back.

The fire-eater caught the disc before returning it with ease, her smile contagious. "You play with funny toys, Lucy. I thought only kids had stuff like this."

"Is that your roundabout way of calling me immature?" the summoner asked haughtily as they continued to exchange the frisbee. "Or are you just saying I'm weird again?"

"I don't think you're immature; I think you're stupid sometimes," he answer with a shrug.

"Isn't that what you were being?"

Natsu scowled. "I'm not always stupid."

"Then you'd better stop being stupid."

He really was stupid. He was a confused, sleep-deprived, indecisive moron that didn't know what to do with all these feelings. Gajeel talked about mates like everything surrounding it was obvious. Gray had made it clear that people thought the fire dragon slayer and the stellar spirit mage were already together. Happy had told him to give happiness a chance. Lucy had told him to believe in their friendship. The choice seemed so incredibly obvious, so why was the follow-through so difficult?

"I wonder how far this thing can go," Natsu murmured, staring deeply at the disc. He wanted to let go of all this and just give in to the thing he so desperately wanted. He wanted release and he wanted peace. He wanted to throw away his fears because fears were not supposed to control him.

He grinned. And he wanted to see how far this thing would go.

The fire mage clutched the white saucer-like object tightly, winding up to put all his strength into this throw.

"H-hey! We only have one of those, Natsu! If you lose it—"

Lucy's words didn't even register as he threw the frisbee with all his might, the disc flying high and angled from his release. It felt really good to throw it all away. If felt like maybe he could finally believe—

Huh, wasn't that Gray? Why was he sort of hunched over? Didn't he at all see that disc coming at him? A good fighter would sense such an object coming at him, even if he was standing in the water. Ha, what an amateur!

Gray let out a strange yelp of both pain and surprise when the disc made contact with his head, losing his balance from the shock and accidentally falling on top of Juvia, who he'd been leaning over. Natsu _had_ to laugh. The pyromaniac hadn't even meant to hit the stripper and yet it had worked out so wonderfully.

The ice mage stood up, glancing around furiously for the thing that had impacted him. He lifted a somewhat dazed (and deliriously happy) water mage from the shallow floor and narrowed his eyes at his long-time rival. The dragon slayer was laughing so hard that he almost forgot to worry about Juvia coming after him for injuring Gray in even the slightest manner. He even just barely registered Lucy standing there with her mouth hanging open and eyes wide, completely dumbfounded.

The dark-haired ice-maker slammed a closed fist against his palm, Natsu making face at the male he'd hit all the while. Juvia was still too busy swooning over having Gray's body on top of her own as Lucy groaned into her hand.

"You're gunna get it, stupid bastard!" the ice-user threatened.

"Bring it, stripper!" Natsu shot back eagerly as he waved around his flame-covered hands.

The celestial spirit mage sighed. "Why does this _always _happen?"

* * *

Natsu crawled to shore, panting as he collapsed front-first onto the dry sand. The blonde female settled down next to him, legs sprawled out while she leaned back on her hands. Lucy was far more composed than he was, with only messy wet hair whereas he was sporting bruises pretty much everywhere on his body. That scuffle with Gray had been worst than usual, the ice mage seemingly extra pissed about something. As such, the weakling's attacks had left Natsu a little sore, not that he'd ever admit that. He wondered what had ticked off his guild mate so much. The way Gray had been leaning over the blunette…it sort of looked like they had been about to…

"Is it possible to just have _one day _with nobody fighting?" Lucy asked in exasperation.

"You're one to talk," Natsu snorted in disbelief. "You almost killed us all."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I was trying to stop you two from wrecking the entire beach!"

"So you decided to wreck it yourself by summoning Aquarius?"

"I-it wasn't that bad! The wave didn't even reach the shore!"

"Only because Juvia was able to stop it at the last minute."

"At least I had good intentions!"

The dragon slayer smirked into the sediment he was laying on top of, knowing he'd won this round. It was so fun to get Lucy all flustered and riled up about things. When she made that pouty face that came upon her visage each time she couldn't think of something good to say, it just made him grin.

"Anyway…" she started, pausing to stand up and stretch her arms and back. "I'm going to go get a drink at the snack bar by the dock. Do you want anything to drink?"

Natsu rolled over to look up at her, blatantly ignoring the hormones that were attempting to get him to take advantage of the position he was in because the view was _good_. "Not food?" he enquired, keeping his eyes on her face. If he let his eyes wander any lower, the results could be catastrophic.

"Natsu, if I offered to get _you_ food, I'd be out of rent money for the next year," the summoner explained bluntly.

The corners of his mouth lifted again. So what if he liked food? "I'll have a fire float," he replied, grinning at her.

She nodded with a small smile in return. "I'll be back."

The rose-haired male glanced at her back as she walked away. Lucy walking away from him… In this case, it was nothing new. She was leaving to get something to drink, but for her to ever really walk away from him…

It wouldn't happen.

Scared over what would happen to their friendship? Natsu quickly realized that his worries about that were simply there to distract him from the actual cause of what was stopping him from giving in to his desires. It was never their friendship, because the dragon slayer knew that the bond he and Lucy shared couldn't possibly be severed. Every relationship had its hitches and that didn't exclude theirs, but they had overcome every single one and in turn, their bond grew stronger. He trusted their friendship. It was _love_ he didn't trust.

This kind of love was hurting the people around him. Erza wore a tough exterior, but it was obvious how completely agonizing it was for her to keep away from Jellal all the time. Gray had basically sworn off women after he found out his girlfriend had been using him for his reputation—that had left the ice mage bitter for months. Even Gajeel, in all his wisdom, had his issues with Levy. The iron dragon slayer perhaps talked a big game when it came to his relationship (the status of which was unknown) with the solid script mage, but he was never completely honest with anyone but Juvia. How was Natsu supposed to trust in something that hurt all his friends?

He thought for a moment. Alzack and Bisca. A perfect relationship? Never, but they loved each other and had created a family out of it. Beautiful young Asuka wouldn't exist had the two sharp-shooters never gotten married. They were happy and they weren't hurting. They gave in to love and it hadn't worked out so horribly. Juvia was so in love with Gray that she practically shouted it from the rooftops every day, and she was relatively cheerful about it all the time, even if her feelings were only one-sided. Happy, who was normally pretty upbeat, was significantly brighter ever since Charle had decided to let him into her life.

Some friends were hurt and some friends were happy. That was the difference, but what all of them had in common was that everyone had given love a chance while Natsu hadn't. The consequences went either way, and though such an emotion had hurt his comrades, he realized that giving love a chance was the only thing that made sense. What had Gajeel done in the past? The iron dragon slayer had practically beat the life out of Jet, Droy, and Levy, yet Makarov had given Gajeel a chance and Natsu now considered the male a part of his family. Even the fire mage had vehemently denied Gajeel's membership to the guild, but the guy had truly proven his worth. Was love worth it too?

…Speaking of which, where was Lucy? It didn't take _this_ long to grab a couple of drinks and come back. In addition to that, the celestial spirit mage was a very prompt person; she wouldn't just linger at the bar when she'd said she would come back.

Natsu got to his feet, his curiosity getting the better of him. Lucy had a tendency of landing in dangerous situations even though she wasn't the one who walked into them. People just really seemed to like attacking or kidnapping her, and while the fire-eater knew she was a skilled mage who was capable of taking care of herself, it was a lot more reassuring to know she had back-up.

The little walk-in bar was only a quick 30 second walk from where the dragon slayer had been ruminating in the sand, only leaving the male more concerned about Lucy's whereabouts. He walked past the wooden doorframe into the large seating are, eyes darting around the room in search of his partner. The rose-haired mage spotted her almost immediately. Her bright blonde hair was easy to see among the dimmer setting, but Natsu hadn't exactly expected the person standing beside her.

Black hair, thick-rimmed glasses, and from the way Lucy was laughing with him, he had to be intelligent. Natsu had to physically restrain himself from attacking the man by gripping his own arm, nails digging into his bicep as the stinging reminded him that Lucy's friend hadn't done anything _wrong_. They were just talking. Cordially.

Or maybe that was the problem.

It absolutely tore at him how comfortably she was speaking with him, although he knew perfectly well that Lucy talking to another guy was completely normal and harmless. However, his dragon instincts were screaming at him…_she's your mate and you haven't claimed her yet. You can't let another take her for his own._

Because that man, the one standing next to her…wasn't _he_ the type she liked?

The fire mage breathed in deeply, steam practically exiting his nose as he attempted to calm his blood. He wasn't about to attack a stranger when the guy wasn't making Lucy do anything against her will and he especially didn't want the blonde to get mad at him for ruining her day at the beach. He'd already gotten away with one fight today.

Fortunately, Lucy spotted him at the entrance at that moment, eyes brightening as she grabbed a mug off the counter she was standing by and big farewell to the dark-haired man she'd been having a conversation with. After walking over to the dragon slayer, she handed the cup to him and Natsu could feel his veins cooling.

"Hey, sorry about that. I just got caught up in a conversation," she told him as they left the snack bar.

"Do you know him?" Natsu asked, somewhat nervous to hear her answer.

She sipped her strawberry milkshake thoughtfully. "Hm, not really. We met once before and he was interested in celestial spirits. He's a novelist."

A novelist? Like a writer? Didn't Lucy want to be one of those too? Why did this guy just seem so damned _perfect_?

"Anyway, how's your fire float? I hope it didn't cool down while I was talking," she said, placing the back of her hand onto his mug to test the temperature.

Natsu took a swig. "Oh, it's—"

"Hey, Lucy! Wait!"

They both spun to see the writer dashing out from the snack bar. Instincts told the dragon slayer to step between the blonde mage and the man calling to her, but resisted the urge to do so. He doubted the summoner would like it if he did so when she wasn't even in any danger.

"Ryuuki, what's up?" she regarded him, blinking.

He ran a hand through his dark hair before adjusting his glasses. "I…I know last time we met, you weren't interested, but I feel something, Lucy—last time I did and today I still do, and I'm really hoping that you feel it too," Ryuuki confessed, apparently pouring his entire heart into his words.

To Natsu's surprise, Lucy moved closer to his side, feeling her arm brush against his own. Huh…?

"I'm sorry," she apologized earnestly, "but my answer's still the same."

The novelist's eyes landed on the fire mage. "There's someone else?"

Lucy nodded. "There's someone else."

Ryuuki's eyes lingered upon Natsu for a few more seconds, giving the dragon slayer a hard stare. Not one to go down without a fight, Natsu leveled his gaze and the two were trapped in an unspoken stalemate.

This man, he realized, wanted to know exactly who the dragon slayer was. Natsu was standing beside the woman he desired and the novelist wanted to understand why he, in all his pretty boy glory, was not standing there instead.

In the end, it was the dark-haired male who let up first and while Natsu hadn't understood exactly what he'd been fighting for, he knew that he'd won. His mind raced. Did that guy think that…?

Ryuuki turned to Lucy, bowing slightly. "I respect your feelings, Lucy. Nevertheless, please contact me if you ever change your mind. I'm currently working as an editor at _Sorcerer _magazine."

"Sure," the stellar spirit mage replied with a smile.

"Good bye." This time, he took a full bow before giving Natsu a nod of acknowledgment. With that, the writer walked back into the snack bar and the rose-haired male was left processing exactly what had just occurred.

He chugged his fire float, quickly disposing of his cup before he grabbed Lucy's hand and began to drag her down the beach.

"Hey, Natsu—what are you—"

He ignored her protests as he continued on, only focusing on what had just happened. Lucy had turned down a writer. She'd turned down a good-looking man. She'd turned down someone who'd made her laugh. She'd turned down some who'd legitimately made her smile. She'd turned down a man who was just as crazy about celestial spirits as she was.

She'd turned down her _soul mate_, and for what reason?

_There was someone else._

Lucy could have any man she wanted, yet for some reason, she'd chosen him. It was never about trusting love; it was about trusting the _person_ you loved. His insecurities about his inexperience and of her leaving him for someone else…_everything_ was just an irrational excuse to do nothing. But no, he couldn't just leave things as they were anymore. She trusted him with her heart and she deserved better than to let it die slowly in his hands.

Natsu didn't know how far he'd walked or for how long his partner had resisted his lead before giving in, but he stopped among a cluster of large rocks, his toes curling into the sand below.

"Natsu, what on Earthland are you doing?" Lucy demanded hotly, waves crashing against the rocks as fiercely as her voice.

He turned, letting go of her hand as his heart pounded heavily in his chest. The dragon slayer could see her hot expression melt when he turned his eyes on her, face hard and serious.

"What's going on?" she asked, tone soft now.

"Just listen," the dragon slayer told her firmly, so she did. "I never understood relationships. I never understood why people needed to be more than just friends or why people wanted to fall in love, but I think I get it now."

He breathed, trying not to start pacing. "Once, you held my hand and I felt something weird what I hadn't felt before. I was…drawn to you and I didn't know what to do, because I started acting different, and then I started _feeling_ different. I didn't know what to do, but you did. You told me to wait until I was ready. I'm ready now.

"Maybe I don't know anything about girls or dates or relationships, but I know you, and I know that somehow I could make you happy." Natsu took a step forward and gently pulled her hand into his.

"I love you, Lucy, and I don't want anyone else to have you."

He fell silent, waiting for her reaction as she simply continued to stare at him. A few seconds passed and the fire mage began to wonder if her brain had stopped working, but a hint of a smile finally appeared at her lips before she launched herself at him, arms around his neck. The dragon slayer failed to steady himself and fell back onto the sand, returning her embrace as she clung to him.

"What took you so long?" Lucy asked, her voice small and almost shy.

He grinned, holding her body tightly against his own. "You're the one who's always calling me stupid," the dragon slayer replied playfully.

She said nothing in return, but Natsu knew that words were unnecessary. He could feel her happiness and let his own torrent of feelings out. There was no need to question the decision he'd made because he knew now that he'd never look back in regret. There was no need to fight and there was no need to run.

Today, he was giving happiness a chance.


	19. Exposed

**Author's Note: **So I'm officially done writing this story! **This is not the last chapter**, though. The last one will be up soon enough when editing is complete. Don't expect too much out of this one. This is the "winding down" chapter, so all it is is fluff, really. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the story. Yeah, there are moments when I suppose the characters could be more in character, and there are probably other things I could improve, but I'm looking forward, not back. Besides, I've always wanted to portray both Natsu and Lucy as _human_, which means they make mistakes, they have flaws, and they get mad. I think I've done pretty well with it.

But anyway, go on and read. :) Thanks for all the feedback! It is greatly appreciated.

* * *

_**Possession**_ by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 19 - _Exposed_**

* * *

She had honestly never felt so comfortable, and she had never been so glad that she lived in her own place. Waking up in Natsu's arms was probably going on her list of best things ever. She'd fallen asleep on his chest last night after staying up, talking for hours in the dark. Now, his arms were around her in a tight hold even while he was in what appeared to be a pretty deep slumber. And nobody knew. _Nobody _knew.

Ah, life was good when you didn't live in Fairy Hills.

The celestial spirit mage wiggle into a better position and settled herself in again, basking in the warmth of her partner. What time was it anyway? Dear Mavis, she really didn't want to check, considering the potent beam of light that was shining in from the crack between her curtains. It could be anywhere from the early morning to the late afternoon, which really sucked because they both had to be at the guild today. Lucy had promised Levy that they would have lunch today and Natsu had actually proposed a formal duel with Erza. The last time that had occurred, the council had interrupted their fight, so the entire guild was pretty excited for the match.

Unfortunately, the blonde was pretty sure the two of them hadn't fallen asleep until about four in the morning, so it was probably already close to noon. And if she knew it was noon, she knew her conscience would make her get up, lest she miss her lunch date with Levy. She _really_ didn't want to look at the clock.

…Ugh, but she couldn't just blow off one of her best friends, especially when Gajeel was having such a hard time figuring out how to articulate his feelings. You just couldn't depend on clueless boys.

Groggily, Lucy rubbed her eyes and turned her head sideways to glance at her clock. Quarter to eleven. Well, at least they had some time to get prepared. That was actually better than she'd expected.

"Natsu," she murmured, not sure why she was using such a quiet voice to wake up her best friend. Maybe it was a testament to how much the summoner really didn't want to get out of bed, though it was probably mostly because she was still so tired herself. "Natsu!" She nudged him softly, still lying on his chest.

"Wassat…?" he gurgled, a trail of dried drool decorating his face as he blinked at her with dim eyes.

"We need to get up," Lucy spoke into his chest, even as she simply hugged his waist, undeterred by the drool. Contradicting her own words was just too easy. She was just so sleepy and comfortable…

She didn't let go when he lifted an arm from her body to wipe his face with his forearm before taking a look at the clock as well. "Eleven only? We have time."

The stellar spirit mage knew right away that he was up to no good when she spotted his grin, but he still managed to catch her off-guard when he lifted her body higher up the bed in order to hog her closer to his body. She let out a groan when he rolled over, half on top of her and leaving her with absolutely no possible way to escape. Quickly adjusting to the agreeable environment, Lucy forgot exactly what she was worried about as her brain began to fog again. This had to be the best sleep she'd ever had…

* * *

When Lucy woke up this time, she shot up, instantly remembering her plans for the day. Natsu had moved again and this time it was pretty easy to navigate into a sitting position.

However, another peek at the clock immediate sent her into panic mode. "Eleven thirty? W-we're going to be late!" she squeaked out in hysteria. How in the world had managed to fall asleep again so fast?

Lucy frantically jerked herself from the bed, practically running to her dresser and wrenching clothes out in a rush. She had a pink t-shirt in one hand and a pair of black shorts in the other when she spun around and found Natsu laughing at her. What was so funny about this? He was the reason they were both late and he was just standing there in his pants _laughing_ at her? Why did she have this sense of déjà vu right now?

Oh yeah, this was the exact same thing that had occurred after she blew up a roof.

_I have the most supportive boyfriend_, the blonde thought dryly.

"You won't be laughing when Erza's done with you," she grumbled, but he simply swept her closer, nuzzling her cheek.

"Relax," he prompted her gently, "we're already late anyway."

Lucy glared. "I _know_ we're already late; it doesn't mean we can just be later!" the summoner berated him as she pull her shirt over her head, knocking him on the face with her elbow as she did so. She winced. "Sorry."

He didn't even blink at her apology, though he did back off so that she could put on her shorts. "It's just another few minutes."

She tossed his vest at him before placing her hands on her hips. "It's just the _principle_ of the thing, Natsu. If you're late for an appointment, you shouldn't make someone wait longer for you!"

"Alright, if that's how you feel about it, then we'll go," Natsu replied in surrender, throwing on his vest and shooting her a smirk. "…We'll go if you don't mind going out with your hair looking like that."

Lucy glanced at the dresser mirror briefly, taking in the horrifying sight of the messy haystack sitting upon her head before attempting to straighten it with her fingers. She turned back to him, a smile on her face, and shoved him toward the bathroom. "Yeah, well, your breath stinks. Go brush your teeth."

* * *

Lucy hummed lightly as she balanced herself across the ledge of the canal, Natsu holding her hand as she did so. Looking decent, the celestial spirit mage had decided to get started on going to their guild headquarters and so dragged the flame dragon slayer along with her. She'd agreed to lunch with Levy at 12, if only to be ready to watch Natsu's duel with Erza half an hour later. It was almost noon already and she was worried that the solid script mage would be waiting for her, but her boyfriend didn't seem worried at all. She found it odd, mostly because although the fire mage was not the most mannerly of people, he would never risk being late when a threat from Erza loomed overhead. In fact, now that she thought about it, even Levy had been strangely adamant about changing the time of their lunch to a later hour, but Lucy had wanted to watch the duel. That was pretty much why she wasn't rushing right now. Something was up with everyone and Lucy was going to find out what.

"So what's going on?" the blonde asked, hopping off the ledge.

He looked at her questioningly, their hands together as they walked along. "What do you mean?"

"It means that you are hiding something from me and I want to know what," she prodded him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Natsu answered firmly, though a twitch at the corner of his mouth betrayed him.

"Liar. You're hiding something," she accused him, bumping his shoulder with her own.

"Oh yeah?" the dragon slayer challenged. "Then what exactly am I hiding?"

"I don't know, but whatever it is, Levy and Erza both know about it," she answered haughtily.

"Alright, maybe I _am_ hiding something, but it doesn't have anything to do with either of them," the fire-eater admitted, scratching the back of his head. "If it bothers you, I'll tell you what it is."

She nodded. "Yeah, I want to know."

"Well…I guess I kind of don't understand why you're being so secretive about us," he responded as he continued to look ahead even with the seriousness of the issue he'd raised. Honestly, it hadn't been a big issue for Lucy until it just now came out of his mouth, but she should have known better than to think that Natsu was just going to sit back and go along with whatever she wanted.

For once, though, the summoner had to admit that her reasoning behind keep their relationship secret was kind of ridiculous. After all, basically the whole of Fairy Tail already thought they were either together or completely in love with each other (which, now that she thought about it, had been an absolutely justified opinion since they'd had the right idea all along). It was just…at the beginning of her entire fiasco with Natsu and being his "girl", Lucy had been horribly indignant about the entire thing. To know that they had figured out her own feelings before her was kind of embarrassing and the blonde hardly wanted to prove them right—or at least let them realize that they _had_ been right.

Lucy sighed, deciding to vocalize her feelings. "Natsu, I'm…really sorry. It's just that everone had this idea that you and I were going to be together, and now that this has happened, it's just sort of…embarrassing."

He chuckled at her concerns, highly carefree as she'd expected him to be. "Just cuz they were right?" the rose-haired pyromaniac asked with a glint of amusement in his eyes.

She flushed darkly, letting out a huff. "You weren't the one that had to deal with all of them. They were all calling me your 'girl'."

"Well, you _are_ mine now."

Lucy pushed him away playfully, pulling him back with their linked hands. "Can you be serious?" the celestial spirit mage sulked. "It's not that it's a huge deal or anything, but it _will_ be if we just walk into the guild holding hands. Everyone's gunna crowd us and tease us and I just want a quiet transition that doesn't spiral off into some sort of massive piece of gossip."

"Gossip?" Natsu spoke in confusion. "People like to talk about that sort of stuff?"

The summoner bit her lip at his obliviousness, keeping silent about her own role in relationship gossip. She wasn't exactly happy about her love life being a hot topic amongst the members of Fairy Tail, but she did keep a very open ear when it came to Gray's changing feelings for Juvia or what sort of secret rendezvous Erza had with Jellal. Levy and Gajeel were always interesting to learn about, but Lucy had a most reliable source into _that_ relationship and respected her good friend's privacy enough not to spread any of what she'd been told to the grapevine. Nevertheless, gossiping was probably not the best hobby to have, but she couldn't help herself sometimes…

"Yeah, people want to know about that sort of thing. It's like how everyone knew that Alzack and Bisca had a thing for each other," she explained, remembering with a bit of envy that they hadn't had to deal with the entire guild's prying eyes when they'd gotten together. Of course, a large portion of Fairy Tail had been technically dead when that happened, which didn't really point to a happy time, but there was still the advantage of feeling stable in your relationship before everyone found out about it! Heck, Natsu hadn't even willingly kissed her yet! She didn't want all that added pressure of making things work out and people talking about it if it didn't.

Mavis, this was not supposed to be a problem. She and Natsu were just peachy, but _this…_

They stopped at the guild entrance, noises already ringing out from inside. Natsu reluctantly let go of her hand and Lucy couldn't help but feel guilty that she was pushing him to do so.

"Well, if you don't want anyone to know right now, then it's not really a big deal to me. I don't care what people gossip about, but I'm not gunna make things harder for you," the dragon slayer responded, giving her the determined look she always admired on him.

Lucy was so touched by his consideration and kindness that feathery feeling people were always talking about when it came to love fluttered around inside her chest. "You know, I'm not sure how another girl didn't snatch you up before you realized I was your mate."

He blinked. "What are you talking about? I just don't like seeing you sad. Even Igneel said that I should never upset girls," the fire mage said, brushing off her gratitude while looking away.

This time, it was her turn to laugh. She never would have pegged Natsu as a _tsundere_, but here he was being all shy and cute about his own thoughtfulness. He could certainly preach friendship without batting an eye, but being sweet? She thought it was adorable.

"Aw, I think this is the reddest I've seen your face," she cooed with a smile. "You shouldn't feel embarrassed for doing what a good boyfriend would."

"I'm not embarrassed. Why would I be? It's just us here," Natsu countered stubbornly, crossing his arms.

A mischievous grin flitted across her lips as the blonde took a step closer to her favourite male. She grabbed the knot of his scarf in her hands and pulled herself up against him, up on the tips of her toes with their noses touching. "If it's just us here, then it should be okay to kiss you, right?"

She felt his arms around her waist. "I thought you didn't want to get caught," the fire mage threw back, his breath hot on her lips.

"Well, it's about damn time!"

Lucy jolted away from her boyfriend at the sound of her good friend's slightly inebriated voice, somewhat dismayed that such an intimate moment had been interrupted, but mostly mortified that they had been discovered—by _Cana_, of all people. Their dirty little secret would not be a secret for much longer.

…Or for any time at all.

Her eyes grew wide when she turned to look at the guild entrance, still with a hand on Natsu's scarf. Everyone—and she _really_ mean _everyone_—was standing just outside the guild's entrance staring at them.

Well, her efforts were shot to hell now.

"Lucy, why didn't you tell us sooner?" Levy asked eagerly, dashing over from the crowd of Fairy Tail members to lift her friend's hand in her own.

"I, uhm…"

"Oh, don't let us disturb you guys. Go back to sucking face," Cana remarked with a smirk, attempted to pry Levy away.

Lucy spluttered while Natsu simply scratched his head some more. "W-we weren't 'sucking face' or anything! We were just—"

"Hey, this wasn't the plan," the dragon slayer cut her off as he glared at their obstructers. "There wasn't a 'surprise!' like you guys said there was gunna be!"

"What is going on?" Lucy asked in utter disbelief of what was occurring around her.

"Surprise!" Happy exclaimed, popping up from out of nowhere, causing Lucy to jump in astonishment.

"W-_What?_"

Chaos broke loose as Natsu began to argue with Gray, food started to be retrieved from the building and placed onto the tables outside, Gajeel sulked by joining in the brawl, and Erza tried to stop them. Lucy could only look on, dumbfounded while Levy and Cana hounded on the details of her relationship.

And, not for the first time in her life, Lucy had no idea what was going on.

* * *

As it eventually turned out, the fighting really had only been the beginning of what happened during that event. Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel had been attacked by Erza, trying to get them to stop fighting by summoning swords of her own, but ended up having one of her weapons slice clean through Max's favourite broom. As a result, the sand-user had broken down into a sobbing mess who was still being comforted by one very sweet Asuka Connell. Loke had also arrived in a flourish, somehow bringing random girls from the streets running to the headquarters of Fairy Tail. Someone had accidentally struck Elfman which caused him to go on a tirade about being a man while Evergreen and Freed got massively pissed off because Laxus was hit on the head with a flying cup. Lucy hadn't bothered answering any of Levy and Cana's questions as she'd been too busy trying to figure out what was going on. Only when Makarov had gone into Guild Master mode had everyone shut up and calmed down.

Now, eating the birthday cake Mirajane had made, Lucy found it completely ridiculous how she hadn't understood what was going on from the beginning. Natsu had done a fairly good job at distracting her. The guild not knowing about them hadn't had anything to do with Levy _or_ Erza and yet he had still managed to make it seem as though that was what he was hiding. She should have known that the issue he'd brought up was something entirely different.

Well, it wasn't as if it mattered now. The celestial spirit mage finally knew exactly what was going on and the whole guild knew about their relationship. In her opinion, what Natsu had been hiding was rather anticlimactic. After all, while she hadn't been expecting to walk into a surprise birthday party, he had already confessed to her in the past that they'd been planning her a party. It was just shocking that the party was happening _now_, quite a few days past her birthday and several days following the time she'd attempted to bake her own cake. Maybe that was Natsu's doing too, though. He tended to be pretty clever when it came to things like this.

"Hey," Levy greeted as she sat down next to the blonde.

"Hey," the summoner replied with a wave, taking another bite of cake from her fork. "You guys really didn't have to plan this huge party for me."

"We did! You're one of the members of the guild who've had such a hard time these past years, so we wanted to do something you'd remember!" the solid script mage insisted cheerfully.

Lucy sighed, more grateful that her guild was so wonderful than anything. "It was still unnecessary, but I'm really thankful that everyone would do this for me."

"Of course!" the blunette replied with a smile before her jovial demeanor seemed to lessen. "Lu-chan, I've been meaning to ask you…"

Ask her what? Lucy looked at her friend in concern, sensing the change in atmosphere immediately. "What is it?"

Levy swallowed. "Did you hide your relationship with Natsu from everyone because of what happened at the hot springs?" she finished nervously.

The celestial spirit mage recoiled in astonishment. _What?_ It never even occurred to her that Levy might feel responsible for the secret she'd been keeping from the entire guild. At one point, the teasing had really bothered her, but now it was more about the fact that she didn't want to be talked about. It didn't have anything to do with Levy at all!

"Levy-chan, that's not it at all! I just didn't want to become the hot topic of the month," Lucy explained, waving her friend's worries away. "What happened at the hot springs ended that same day."

"I'm relieved. I'd feel absolutely horrible if I made you feel like you had to hide things from everyone." the Shadow Gear leader admitted as she wrung her hands together. The female let out a breath and leaned back against her seat. "But then, if it's all about gossip, do you really care about what everyone else is saying? You and Natsu were always close, regardless of what people thought."

Lucy thought for a moment. Now that Levy was bringing up that point, her reasoning didn't make much sense at all. When people had assumed she was "Natsu's girl", it hadn't stopped her from hanging out with him. In fact, it was quite the opposite; she'd spent time with him in order to prove them wrong (although look how _that_ turned out). Maybe back then she'd cared about it more, but now, it didn't matter at all what other people were saying. There were only two facts: she loved Natsu, and Natsu loved her. Her relationship was her business. It was about her happiness and his.

A smiled played upon her lips as she turned to her comrade. "You're right. I really _don't_ care. I think maybe I just realized how much I've changed since I met Natsu." Vanity and superficiality had no place when it came to him, after all. Her appearance and reputation always seemed a lot less significant when it was just the two of them.

"You're so in love. It's nice to see," the solid script mage commented earnestly.

"Yeah…" The summoner blushed and took another bite of her sponge cake. "How's it going with Gajeel?"

"I'll tell you later. Looks like someone wants to steal you away," Levy spoke hastily in a hushed tone. She quickly got up from her chair and waved, silently retreating to her original table where Gajeel was devouring a rather large stack of cream puffs.

Lucy looked back only to realize that her boyfriend would be the one stealing her away, first spotting his pinkish hair move towards her before anything else. She shovelled her dessert into her mouth as fast as she could so that she could fully focus on Natsu. From the look on his face, he wanted to say something serious.

"Can we go somewhere quiet?" he asked her, gesturing toward the guild doors.

She nodded, gently taking him by the hand and walking into the empty entranceway of their headquarters. "What is it?"

"I…didn't get you anything for your birthday, so I feel kinda bad," the dragon slayer trailed off.

That was it? Really? She had to chew on the side of her mouth to keep from laughing. The poor guy was feeling bad over nothing. Did he really think she was that anal about getting gifts for the day she was born? Coming from a rich family, Lucy really wasn't so hung on material objects. The maids, the butlers, the cook…they'd all gotten her gifts for her birthday when she was back living in the mansion with her father. Of course she had been grateful for all those things, but what she cared about was the fact that they had been thinking about her because her father clearly hadn't. Jude never said a word to her, never acted like the day was any different from the day he turned cold after Layla's death. He hadn't remembered the day she was born, and even if he did, it hadn't mattered to him.

After his passing, she knew none of that was true. Jude Heartphilia had just been a man who had tried to avoid all things emotional so he wouldn't have to think about his wife, and when she'd been gone those seven years, the celestial spirit mage knew from all those gifts that lay in her room when she returned were not from a man that had forgotten his daughter's birthday. Despite that, those unfavourable memories of her childhood made sure that she never got lost in material over compassion. Silly Natsu. He'd done so much for her already. Just the fact that he'd helped out with her surprise party was enough.

"You don't need to get anything for me," Lucy told him, taking his hand in her own. "It's just a birthday. It's not a big deal."

"No, it's the day you were born. That's important cuz you're important," he replied with conviction.

A little smile made its way onto her face. Was that some roundabout way of saying he loved her again? "Thanks, Natsu, but you still don't have to."

The look he was giving her was indecipherable at that moment, so she wondered what he was doing when he began to untie his scarf from its usual place. The blonde stared blankly when he suddenly moved forward placed his most prized item around her neck.

"There. Happy birthday."

She looked at him quizically. "Natsu…?"

The fire mage ran a hand through his hair, letting out a breath. "I know you have a lot of regrets when it comes to your dad, and I know you're still trying to work through those things, so until you do, you can share mine."

The weight of what he was offering finally hit her in a shock. Natsu had been _everywhere_ in this scarf—the scarf given to him by Igneel. This wasn't something small.

"Natsu, I can't take this," the female protested, a little overwhelmed.

"You can just give it back to me later," the dragon slayer replied, grinning as he dragged her back towards the door. "Now let's go have some fun!

Lucy shook her head at how lightly he seemed to be taking the situation, but it was so in his nature that it simply made her smile. This was how he was when she'd met him all that time ago in Harujion, and she never wanted him to change.

She clutched the scarf in one hand, following after her best friend as she glanced to the sky when they got outside. _I'm going to make him happy, Igneel_, she pledged to both herself and temporary dad_. I promise. He's everything I need, and I think I can be the same to him._

People had referred to her as a possession, but to hell with it. She really was "Natsu's girl", and she loved every bit of it.


	20. Epilogue: It's Better When We're Togethe

**Author's Note:** Yep, so here it is, the way I'd always envisioned it would end. This is a very personal chapter to me, and yeah, it's really more for me than anyone else. Of course, you guys get to read it too and hopefully enjoy it. xD Oh, and before anyone asks, NO SEQUELS. I'll be finishing up the rest of the Possession Series (_You Stole the Rain_ and _Limits_) before any other Fairy Tail projects. I have another NaLu planned though, as well as a couple of one-shots.

I'd like to thank everyone who has stuck with me through these past couple of years. Thank you _so_ much for all your patience and support. As a writer, there is nothing more wonderful than having such great readers. I am so grateful for this. Thank you for the feedback, the kind messages, and giving me the belief that I can go far as a writer. I hope any readers can continue to enjoy this story as a little escape from our tough, everyday lives.

**_This chapter is dedicated to EC. Happy birthday, you old man. :) You have been one of my biggest sources of inspiration since I met you, so thank you so much. I apologize for being the crappiest GF ever, and I love you_.**

**Warning:** So my feels basically exploded all over the wall after I was done writing this chapter. I don't know if that means anything to you, but I warned you. Proceed with caution.

Ah, and since this is the last chapter, some feedback would be highly appreciated. Thanks!

* * *

**_Possession_ **by HawkofNavarre

**Chapter 20 – _Epilogue: It's Better When We're Together_**

* * *

Once upon a time, there was a girl had been certain she would fall in love with a handsome, intelligent man and be swept away with among smiles and perfectly chiseled abs. So she searched and searched and searched, but alas, the great man she'd always pictured never really appeared. Instead, she found dumbasses, egomaniacs, and guys that didn't even seem to want to talk to her. Her vision of falling in love with that special someone seemed to disappear before her eyes.

That is, until she started dating her best friend.

It was something different—_good_ different. She never would have expected it when she was looking at prospective boyfriends, but it happened and she was glad it did. He was her best friend, her rock, and her love all rolled into one. Her younger self may have thought their relationship wouldn't have lasted more than a week, but it had been three years and they were still going strong. Yes, they were like any other couple, hitting some rough patches along the way, though they'd always make up easily. Everything was good and she was happy.

So what happened yesterday?

Once upon a time, that mage called Lucy realized that happily ever after didn't exist. She'd read books upon books that allowed her to imagine that it did and somehow, she had deluded herself into actually _believing_ it did. She felt silly and stupid. And angry.

It took a while for her to actually accept that she and Natsu had really had this massive fight in which both parties were furious and wouldn't give in. They were in this horrible stalemate since nine last night. Natsu had gone to his own house to sleep for the first time in two months. There had been screaming, spewing of irrational statements, and the appearance of Loke, who had summoned himself to Earthland because he felt Lucy's magical energy spiking before being ordered to "choose a side". The celestial spirit mage would have to apologize to him sometime. He'd quickly retreated back to the gate when it happened, but he'd definitely walked into a scary fight by accident. It was seriously one of the worst things for anyone to have walked into…

Ugh, but even thinking about last night was stressful. There really was no denying that Natsu was her best friend, so waking up feeling so upset with him had been a miserable feeling on its own. Just the fact that they had acted out at each other with so much animosity made her guts churn. She felt sick and terrible and like someone had pulled out her heart, thrown it on the floor, and stepped on it repeatedly.

The celestial spirit mage curled up on her single chair and stared at the wall, rotating the sapphire ring on her finger. She hadn't wanted to get up this morning, but when she'd awoken in the bed they now always shared alone, so felt so bad that she escaped into the next room just to escape the memory of the night before. She hated feeling like this. Could she admit that she'd been wrong though? Or was she supposed to hold out until he did?

"Was I wrong?" she asked a bunch of air particles, bringing her knees up to her chest. The fight last night was anything but stupid. It was nice that they weren't the kind of couple to explode at each other over nothing, though that wasn't really a comforting thought if they couldn't get over this hurdle. It was a serious matter.

It was about her writing.

The night before was really a blur. She remembered blaming him for the fact that they were fighting, but in hindsight, it was probably both their faults. The blonde knew she hadn't been thinking quite so logically when she'd been angrily hurling words everywhere. Even the thought of that was odd—she wasn't exactly the type of person to yell and scream at someone, yet it really had gotten that bad.

Lucy sighed. This wasn't just something she could apologize for, nor was it something he could claim all the blame for. It wasn't completely his fault because he'd been right. But…did she really want to admit that?

* * *

He'd always thought she was beautiful when she was writing. That focused look on her face when she was into a story or the way she chewed at the side of her lip when she couldn't figure out how she wanted her sentence structure to sound were just two of the things he noticed about her when she was doing the thing she loved the most. Natsu always took note of that kind of thing, mostly because it fascinated him. She hardly ever noticed that he was watching her, and when she did, she would blush and stutter at him to stop, which only made it all more fun.

Last night, though, he'd decided he was going to take it up a notch. He'd felt pretty audacious at that moment, really more confident than anything because she shared with him her most private thoughts and he knew her better than anyone. He'd seen her most disgusting habits (eyebrow maintenance was probably the most horrifying thing he'd ever seen in his life. She'd pulled out one of his eyebrow hairs once and it hurt like _hell_) and she'd trusted him with her life several times. A long time ago, he had stopped trying to read her writing because he respected her wishes, but after three years of being together, he thought that maybe her trust for him was deep enough for her compulsive privacy about writing to change.

So that night, he thought he would try and read a little.

At first it had been fine. Natsu had snuck up behind her and hugged her around her shoulders. He managed to stay there for about half a minute before she realized he was actually _reading _what she was putting down on paper. The fire mage had been in the middle of reading a scene where the main character felt weak and helpless in trying to rescue her comrades and he'd found it pretty interesting. Unfortunately, that had also been the same moment when Lucy exploded.

It had been absolutely the worst thing he'd ever gone through. Lucy had basically been shrieking at him and he had felt compelled to yell back because he hadn't felt like he'd done anything wrong. The reason he was truly angry with her was because they had been together for such a long time and she still felt like she had to hide her writing from him. He didn't want to read it to judge her or laugh at her penmanship; he just wanted to be able to see a little more into her world, and it hurt that she didn't trust him with that.

He'd ended up sleeping at his own house that night and it was the oddest feeling waking up without her. He was so used to having her by his side that lying in his hammock alone felt particularly cold and unwelcoming. The dragon slayer really did not like being upset with Lucy. She was more than just his best friend, and feeling like he couldn't get over this was really disconcerting. It made him feel bad and nauseated and wrong. He usually enjoyed fights; this one, not so much.

The fire mage knew he should apologize, knowing full well that he shouldn't have gone against her wishes like that, even if they _had_ been a couple for more than three years now. Still, he felt sort of stubborn about it because after everything they'd been through, he was sure he deserved more trust than that.

Natsu sighed. He was probably being unreasonable. If there was one thing he'd learned about relationships over the years, it was that you didn't just get your way; it was about compromise. He would get a little of what he wanted and Lucy would get a little of what she wanted. Because he wasn't really a greedy person, compromise had never bothered him before. This time, though, he didn't _want_ to compromise. However, the reality was that he knew he was going to have to. He couldn't just force his girlfriend into doing something she didn't want to. Somehow, he was just going to have to figure out a way to be okay with this. Her feelings about writing…it wasn't her fault that she needed it to be so private. She couldn't just change the way she felt about something so close to her.

Well, at the very least, the dragon slayer would definitely feel better after they talked. He had cooled down from their fight through the night, so now they would be able to have a civil conversation. In the end, he had to understand where she was coming from. Whining about his hurt feelings wouldn't do a thing. He just wanted her to be happy, and ultimately, he didn't need to be a part of her writing world to remember that he loved her.

* * *

"_What?_ You guys _actually_ got into a fight?"

"Is it really so hard to believe?"

"Yes!"

Lucy groaned at her friend's disbelief, though wasn't quite surprised by it. Levy and Gajeel constantly got into fights, albeit little ones that often started because Levy was a very adventurous person and he was way too overprotective. Either way, the girl talk always helped. Somehow, she would figure out what she was going to say to him when she next saw him, but for now, she was going to spill all her worries to her friends at the bar.

"It _is_ a little weird," Cana agreed as she took a swig of her beer. "I can't imagine Natsu getting pissed off at you about anything. I don't know how you did it, but you pretty much have him good and whipped as far as relationships go. But I guess you were always pretty good with a whip."

"I don't think he needed whipping in the first place," Lucy sighed, palming her face at that comment and ridiculous pun. "He's never been in any sort of relationship before and I never thought he ever _would_ be in one."

"What did I tell you?" the barmaid asked with a smile as she leaned against the counter.

Another groan. "Guys, this is not what I need right now!"

"We all knew it was going to happen sooner or later," Erza added, arms crossed.

The solid-script mage propped her elbows on the bar, sighing dramatically as she held her face in her hands. "And now they're having their first big fight… It's so wonderful!"

"Having fights is not a good thing!"

"Lucy, I think you're forgetting something important," the Titania cut in sharply, her best big sister look on. "We've gone through so many fights in the past, and in enduring those fights, we have only gotten stronger. It's not good to fight all the time, but an occasional struggle like this will only serve your relationship well if you choose to work through it."

The celestial spirit mage took in her guild mate's words, glad that there was someone around who was reminding her why it was okay to feel like this from time to time. She'd already gotten over quite a few bumps that had made their way into her and Natsu's relationship, so this wasn't much different. Really, she'd just felt so bad about the argument that she completely forgot that something good might actually come from this.

"Plus, you could probably have some really good make-up sex after this," Cana remarked, grinning in all her sexual glory.

"Cana!" the blonde squeaked in mortification, although now that the brunette had mentioned it, make-up sex was not such a bad idea… "Wendy is sitting _right there_."

However, the little sky dragon slayer only blushed a little, trying to maintain her composure. The hardest part to swallow was probably the fact that Natsu was like her favourite older brother. "I-I'm seventeen now. It's not l-like I don't know about stuff like this."

"Oh yeah? So then tell us, what have you and Romeo been doing out on your dates?"

"I—I—!"

"Holy Edolas, the kid's not a virgin anymore."

"I never said that!" the younger female protested in the highest pitch Lucy was certain she'd ever heard from the blunette. Abruptly, she stood from her chair. "I'm-I'm just gunna go!"

Watching Wendy retreat from their little group chat, Mira gave a nervous smile. "Cana, was that really necessary?"

"Oh, come on! Like she said, she's seventeen!"

"Don't embarrass her. She's still a kid, no matter what she says," the redheaded S-Class mage ordered sternly.

"Ugh, Erza, you're such a joy-kill. Fine, I won't tease her anymore," the alcoholic replied stubbornly. She sank over the table as well. "I'm bored. I wish Juvia were here. I've always wanted to find out how Gray was in the sack."

Lucy couldn't even describe her level of exasperation at that point. Her friends were way too weird sometimes. She'd gone to them for advice and the only person who actually gave her something to work with was Erza. She really wondered why she even bothered to tell them her problems this time around…

"Lucy, how's Natsu in bed?"

She stared at her guild mate. "_Excuse me?_"

"Since Juvia's not here, I figured I might as well ask about your guy instead."

"Cana, I am _not_ going to tell you about—"

"Then Natsu must be good!"

"I 'must be good' at what?"

All heads present turned to look at the new, very decisively male voice. Cana was lovely, but she really had a way with embarrassing people. Lucy wanted to melt into the ground and die when she saw Natsu standing there. They were fighting, and now all she could think about was how adept he was in _bed_.

She was going to get Cana one day. She really would.

"Let's go," the blonde hissed, stomping away from the bar as she grabbed onto her boyfriend's arm, fervently hoping that Natsu hadn't noticed her flushed face.

* * *

He let her pull him outside, wondering exactly what had her blushing such a deep red, but quickly remembered that there were more serious issues at hand. All he could really do today was explain to her what his intentions had been. There was really nothing else to do, but such serious conversations had always been more difficult to go through than any sort of other one. There was still that tension deep within him, a strain of fear for what might occur if she wasn't happy with him or if he ended up still being upset with her. Either way, they had to talk. Lack of communication had hurt them both in the past, and being together so long had taught them this lesson well enough.

"What was that all about?" he asked her as she let go of his bicep, looking rather humiliated.

Lucy brushed her loose hair back, pressing her face into her hand, a gesture that the dragon slayer knew quite well. She often used it when she was frustrated with him or embarrassed about something. Circumstance indicated that it was the latter. Besides, Cana had a way with words when it came to making people feel awkward. He'd never actually experienced it himself, but he had seen it enough times to realize how good she was at it.

"N-nothing at all!" the blonde waved it off, smacking her palms against her cheeks a couple of times as if to wake herself up. "We came out here to talk. You talk first."

Now he was wondering if she was going to even bother _listening_. She was so flustered. Even the movements of her eyes were so rapid it felt like he was trying to follow a fruit fly. He didn't want to spill his guts like this! She was making him nervous! And what was with that sexual tens—

_Oh._

The fire mage stepped forward, squishing the sides of her face with his forehead against hers. "_Focus,_ Lucy. Think about sex _later_."

She stared at him with wide eyes—not that he was giving her a choice at the moment anyway—nodding slightly within his grasp. Natsu then led her over to a nearby bench, sitting down and pulling her down beside him.

"Better?"

"Better. Thanks," the celestial spirit mage breathed as she rubbed her temples for a moment. Leaning against the backrest, she seemed to relax a bit more now that she was thinking clearly and it was just the two of them. "Can you…tell me about last night?"

Right, it was time. The truth was all he needed and it would be okay. "I guess I just thought that after this long, you'd trust me enough that it wouldn't be a big deal if I read what you were writing. That's it. I didn't mean to make you feel like I violated your privacy or anything," Natsu conceded, feeling a bit more ashamed about his actions now that the words were coming out of his mouth. He swallowed. "Sorry I yelled. You weren't wrong to be mad."

She lifted her legs onto the bench, crossing them while she fiddled absently with her keys. "Natsu…it's okay. I have to take my share of the blame too," she explained quietly. "I mean, obviously it would have been better if you'd just _asked_ me if you could read it, but I probably would've said no. And…you're not really wrong. I _should_ trust you enough that your reading my writing wouldn't bother me, but the fact is…it does.

"Writing is something that I've cherished since I was a kid, because after my mother died, I didn't have any other way to cope. Somehow, it's always been nerve-wracking to let anybody in to that part of me, and—and I guess I should've tried, especially since it's _you_," Lucy continued as she flicked Aries around her key ring. "It might take a while, but I _will_ try. It wouldn't be fair of me if I didn't."

He glanced at her, looking small and timid, practically feeling her vulnerability. Whenever they had serious conversations like this, one of them, if not both, ended up feeling stripped down and naked. While it wasn't the most comfortable feeling, this was where it always got better. It was already extremely gratifying that this moment didn't have the same atmosphere as last night. The fact that they'd solved this so reasonably when this had been their biggest fight to date was even greater.

Natsu smiled slightly as he pulled her into his lap. They always worked well together.

"I just want to see a little into your world," he told her, burying his face into the crook of her neck. "Maybe…I don't always understand you, but I don't think I ever want to stop trying."

The jangling of her keys stopped as she turned and grasped him around the waist, fingers straining against his vest. They sat there together in silence and Natsu knew that this was everything he could ever ask for. He could back off and give her the time she needed to bring him into her world of imagination, and she was sensible enough to understand why he wanted to try. They always worked well together.

"Hey, Natsu…" Lucy started, trailing her right hand down his around to weave her fingers through his. "Thanks. I'm really glad we had this fight."

_Glad_. The woman who only fought for friends and for their guild but never for fun or pleasure was _glad_ they'd fought. She was glad to fight for _them_. The dragon slayer hadn't realized what a beautiful thing it was until now. He was glad to fight for them too. They always worked well together.

Impulsively, he kissed her, loving the feeling of her within his arms and especially enjoying the fact that she was still wearing the sapphire ring he gave her years ago when she had been mad at him. Girls were funny that way. You could never really tell what they were thinking when they were sending you so many mixed messages at one time. But that was okay, because with Lucy, he hadn't ever had a doubt in his mind that she loved him. The day they became a couple was the same day that his faith in being in an intimate relationship with her was solidified. Never once had it crossed his mind that they would fall apart. Not even last night when he'd been seething with fury or even this morning when he realized how much they had hurt each other.

They _always_ worked well together.

Just as he pulled away, Natsu left an impish grin on her lips as he stole the ring off her finger and abruptly slid out from under her, leaving the celestial spirit mage looking dumbfounded and falling back onto the bench with a thump. Grinning, the fire mage held out the ring between his index finger and thumb standing in front of her, taunting her.

"You want it back? You'd better come get it."

* * *

Lucy glared at her boyfriend as she got to her feet, rubbing her sore butt as a result of the male dumping her back onto the bench with absolutely no warning at all. Sometimes she wondered how he could go from being so devoutly sweet, kissing her so passionately, to turning back into that immature idiot that just wanted to have fun. Of course, it didn't really help that that was one of the reasons she loved him. It was hard not to fall for every side of Natsu when he didn't even know what falsity was. He'd always been open to her to read, and besides the blatant disregard for massive destruction, she'd been attracted to every bit of him from the moment they'd met. Maybe it hadn't been a romantic attraction, but the blonde knew that had their meeting been under entirely different circumstances, she still would have been drawn to him. She supposed it was fine if he acted like a moron from time to time.

After all, she kind of liked to act like a moron sometimes too.

"Give it back," she huffed, pouting more than anything.

"Come on, you know that look isn't gunna work on me," Natsu shot back as he continued to hold her favourite piece of jewellery out, dangling it like bait.

There was a feeling of content thrumming down her body, even if she was a little annoyed. Having such a horrible fight followed by a serious talk was mentally exhausting, and it was kind of nice to have some normalcy in her day again. Determinedly, Lucy grabbed at the ring, but Natsu quickly move his hand out of the way. She lunged again and the rose-haired male simply tossed the ring into his left hand, waving his arm high in the air. Her attempt to get to the ring was almost pathetic (and probably was _really_ pathetic _looking_) as she stood on her tip-toes, knowing all the while she'd never reach it.

Suddenly, he gripped her wrist and returned the ring to its proper place on her finger.

_On her left hand._

Stepping back and pulling her arms close to her body, Lucy looked from her hand to him, then back to her hand and then to him again. There was a ring on her left hand. There was a ring on her left hand on her ring finger. And Natsu had put it there.

"W-_what?_" she rasped out in a weak voice, her question swiftly disappearing into the wind.

He smiled. "I just thought it might look better there, don't you think?"

Lucy wasn't sure if her brain could handle this, frozen in the process of trying to figure out just what was going on. It was the emotion that came first, so warm and overpowering that she felt tears burning in her eyes before she even knew it was happening. That smile of reassurance told her that Natsu knew exactly what he was doing and exactly what this all meant. Only a moment after realizing this did her chest explode into a muddled combination of euphoria, shock, and undeniable love.

And then she was just a girl that was sobbing so hard and smiling so much that she was certain she was a disastrous sight, but it was alright when only Natsu was around to see it.

"Y-yes," she whispered, drawing herself to his chest. "Yes…"

He squeezed her so tightly that amongst her choked up tears and runny nose, she could hardly breathe as he lifted her off her feet, but all the celestial spirit mage could do was laugh tearfully at Natsu's overjoyed reaction when he put her down. She'd been dreaming about escaping her life of solitude ever since she was a child, wishing for the day where she would find where she belonged and fall in love and live in happiness. Book after book after book and still it was never enough. Now, though, she could see that what she'd been yearning for was never out of reach.

Fairy Tail was her family, Natsu was her home, and Lucy thought that maybe she'd really just been living her dream all along.

* * *

**The End. Thank you for reading.**


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